IJALEL Vol 5 No 5 2016

International Journal of
Applied Linguistics &

English Literature
ISSN 2200-3592 (Print)

ISSN 2200-3452 (Online)
Pioneering in Language & Literature Discovery

International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature
All papers on which this is printed in this book meet the minimum requirements of "Australian
International Academic Centre PTY. LTD.".
All papers published in this book are accessible online.
Editors-in-Chief
 John I. Liontas, University of South Florida, United States
 Jayakaran Mukundan, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
 Zosia Golebiowski, Deakin University, Australia
Managing Editor
 Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Journal Information
ISSN Print: 2200-3592
ISSN Online: 2200-3452
ISBN: 978 -600-5361-84-1
Website: www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL
E-mail: [email protected]
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2012 – 2016 © IJALEL

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means, without written permission from the publisher.
ii
IALEL Editorial Team
Editor(s)-in-Chief
John I. Liontas, University of South Florida, United States
Zosia Golebiowski, Deakin University, Australia
Jayakaran Mukundan, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Managing Editor
Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Senior Associate Editors

Ahmad M. Al-Hassan, Bremen University, Germany
Ali Al-Issa, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Ali Miremadi, California State University, United States
Biook Behnam, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
Christina Alm-Arvius, Stockholm University, Sweden
Eugenio Cianflone, University of Messina, Italy
Haifa Al-Buainain, Qatar University, Qatar
Hossein Farhady, University of Southern California, United States
John W. Schwieter, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
Juliane House, University of Hamburg, Germany
Kazem Lotfipour-Saedi, Ottawa University, Canada
Kimberley Brown, Portland State University, United States
María-Isabel González-Cruz, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Spain
Mats Oscarson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Meixia Li, Beijing International Studies University, China
Roger Barnard, The University of Waikato, New Zealand
Ruth Roux, El Colegio de Tamaulipas & Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Mexico
Sebnem Toplu, EGE University, Turkey
Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi, Shahrood University of Technology, Iran
Simin Karimi, University of Arizona, United States
Taher Badinjki, Al-Zaytounah University, Jordan
Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Xitao Fu, Zhanjiang Normal University, China
Yolanda Gamboa, Florida Atlantic University, United States
Yuko Goto Butler, University of Pennsylvania, United States
Zdenka Gadusova, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia
Zia Tajeddin, Allameh Tabatabai University,Tehran, Iran
Associate Editors
Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia
Anne Dragemark Oscarson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Asghar Salimi Amirghayeb, Maragheh University, Iran
Bahman Amani, University of Malayer, Iran
Bilge Öztürk, Kocaeli University, Turkey
Christopher Conlan, Curtin University, Australia
Efstathios (Stathis) Selimis, Technological Education Institute of Kalamata, Greece
Fan-Wei Kung, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Ferit Kilickaya, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Turkey
Javanshir Shibliyev, Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus
Maryam Azarnoosh, IAU, Semnan, Iran
Naser Nayif AlBzour, Al AlBayt University, Jordan
Natasha Pourdana, Gyeongju University, South Korea
Obaid Hamid, The University Of Queensland, Australia
Rachel Adams Goertel, Pennsylvania State University, United States
Reza Kafipour, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Shaofeng Li, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Vahid Nimehchisalem, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Distinguished Advisors
Brian Tomlinson, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
iii
Charles Goodwin, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Claire Kramsch, University of California, United States
Dan Douglas, Dan Douglas , Iowa State University, United States
Hossein Nassaji, University of Victoria, Canada
Jalal Sokhanvar, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Roger Nunn, The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Susan Gass, Michigan State University, United States
Advisors
Ian Bruce, The University of Waikato, New Zealand
Kristina Smith, Pearson Education, Turkey
Oytun Sozudogru, University of York, UK
Saeed Kalajahi, University of Göttingen, Germany
Steve Neufeld, Middle East Technical University, Cyprus
Editorial Panel
Abdolvahed Zarifi, Yasouj University, Iran
Ali Albashir Mohammed Al-Ha, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia
Ali Asghar Yousefi Azarfam, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Arif Ahmed Al-Ahdal, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
Aseel Zibin, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Bakhtiar Naghdipour, Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus
Bora DEMIR, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey
Cecilia Chu, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
Dawn Rogier, Embassy of the United States of America, Philippines
Ebrahim Samani, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Erdem AKBAS, University of York, UK
Farah Ghaderi, Urmia University, Iran
Gerry Loftus, University of Buckingham, UK
Hossein Saadabadi, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Isa SPAHIU, International Balkan University, Macedonia
Jiaoyue Chen, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Mahdi Alizadeh Ziaei, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Neslihan Önder Ozdemir, Uludağ University, Turkey
Noelia Malla García, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
Orkun CANBAY, Qatar University, Qatar
Reza Vaseghi, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Ruzbeh Babaee, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Seyyed Ali Kazemi, Islamic Azad University, Iran
Shannon Kelly Hillman, University of Hawaii, Hawaii
Tin T. Dang, Vietnam National University, Vietnam
Yasemin Aksoyalp, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
Book Reviews Editor

Marilyn Lewis, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Deceased Editor
Cem Alptekin, Boğaziçi University, Turkey
iv
Vol. 5 No. 5; September 2016
Table of Contents
Articles
Women Empowerment in the Realms of Institutionalized Religion and Patriarchy: El

Saadawi’s Firdaus and Yezierska’s Sara as Examples
Abdullah K. Shehabat 1-5
The Effect of Three Kinds of Reading Strategies on EFL Learners’ Reading
Comprehension and Gender Difference Using Think-aloud Protocol
Ali Fathi Karizak, Laleh Khojasteh 6-14
Philanthropic Discourse vs Promotional Genre: To Study the Rhetorical Choices of
Promotion and Structural Moves of Two Appeal Letters in Hong Kong
Patrick Chi-wai LEE 15-23
Developing Students’ EFL Writing Skills by Enhancing their Oral Interactions
Muhammad Al-Roomy 24-31
Evidentiality, Epistemic Modality, and Epistemic Status
Rezeda Dilshatovna Shakirova, Guzel Abelkhasanovna Sadrieva, Adelina Renatovna 32-38
Safina, Inga Gennadyevna Almikaeva, Alsu Flerovna Galimullina
The Taxonomy of the Functional and Structural Uses of Adverbs in Business Letter
Writing in English
Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan 39-48
Ideologies in Mandela’s No Easy Walk to Freedom
Ali AbdulhameedFaris, Shamala Paramasivam 49-61
Conceptual Translation: Script Theory over Equivalence Theory
Naser N. AlBzour 62-69
The Narrative Structure and Rhetorical Elements in The Companions of Cave
Muzammir Anas, Nur Salina Ismail, Radzuwan Ab Rashid, Zulazhan Ab Halim, 70-75
Badri Najib Zubir
A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Ideational Grammatical Metaphor in Marine
Engineering and Maritime Legal Regulation English
Xuehua Wu, Xueying Cai 76-84
Shattering Man’s Fundamental Assumptions in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man
Hazim Adnan Hashim, Rosli Bin Talif, Lina Hameed Ali 85-91
Marriage in Renaissance Drama: Defiance of Patriarchal Authority and Social
Conventions
Ibrahim Abushihab, Esraa Abushihab 92-95
On the English Translation of Chinese Modern Essays From the Perspective of
Cognitive Context: A Case Study of Zhang Peiji’s English Translation of Chinese
Essay “巷”
Jianwei Zheng 96-101
Identity Styles: Predictors of Reading and Writing Abilities
Zohre Mohamadi, Fariba Haji Mokhtari 102-108
A Study on English Preparatory Program EFL Learners’ Beliefs about Language
Learning in Relation to Gender, Second Foreign Language Knowledge and Foreign
Country Experience
Murat Hismanoglu 109-118
An Agree-based Approach to Structural Case Assignment in Najrani Arabic
Abdul-Hafeed Ali Fakih, Hadeel Ali Al-Sharif 119-138
The Discursive Construction of Teachers’ Desirable Identity on a Social Networking Site
Radzuwan Ab Rashid, Kamariah Yunus, Azmi N.J., Safawati Basirah Z., Shireena 139-144
Basree Abdul Rahman, Yusoff S.Z.
L2 Motivational Self System Among Arab EFL Learners: Saudi Prespective
Ali Ayed S. Alshahrani 145-152
The Urban Text of E.T.A. Hoffmann: the Stories “The Golden Pot”, “The Deserted House” and
v
the Novel “The Devil's Elixirs”
Larisa Aleksejevna Mishina, Natalia Konstantinovna Shutaya, Elena Yurievna 153-157

Skorokhodova, Oksana Ivanovna Lytkina, Larisa Nikolaevna Aleshina
Malaysian Tertiary Level ESL Students’ Perceptions toward Teacher Feedback, Peer
Feedback and Self-assessment in their Writing
Kayatri Vasu, Chai Hui Ling, Vahid Nimehchisalem 158-170
The Impact of Embedded Story Structures versus Sequential Story Structures on
Critical Thinking of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners
Sara Samadi, Farid Ghaemi 171-178
Defying the Dominant Masculine Identity in D. H. Lawrence’s Novel The Rainbow
Angelina Subrayan, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya 179-182
How to Identify Negative Attitudes towards Inclusive Education: Critical Discourse
Analysis of Russian Transcripts Using Role and Reference Grammar
Mariia Rubtcova, Oleg Pavenkov, Julia Varlamova, Valentina Kaisarova, Lidmila 183-196
Volchkova, Galina Menshikova, Julia Denisova
A Pragmatic Cross-Cultural Study of Complaints Expressions in Jordan and England
Nisreen Al-Khawaldeh 197-207
Gender Differences and Foreign Language Reading Anxiety of High School Learners in an
Iraqi EFL Context
Ahmed Abdulateef Sabti, YM Tenku Mazuwana Binti T. Mansor, Mohammed Qasim 208-214
Altikriti, Hussein Fahim Abdalhussein, Saad Sameer Dhari
Exploring the Textual Metafunction in a Biblical-Fictional Parable in Ngũgĩ wa
Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross
Yémalo C. Amoussou 215-227
Task-based Instruction and Vocabulary Learning: A Comparative Study of Jigsaw and
Information Gap Tasks on Vocabulary Learning
Hooshang Khoshsima, Amin Saed 228-236
Theoretical Basics of the Transpositional Grammar of Russian Language
Victor Vasilievich Shigurov, Tatyana Alexeevna Shigurova 237-245
The Problem of Gender and Sensitive Use of the Language in Kazakhstan: The Case of German
Gulnar Kulmukhambetovna Ismagulova, Viktoriya Valerievna Danilova, Kenzhigul 246-251
Kunusbaevna Segizbaeva, Bibikul Mazanovna Utegenova, Yuliya Borisovna Grigorova
Exploring Subjectivity in Verbal Reports of Iranian EFL Learners in Institutional
Discourse
Ashraf Haji Maibodi, Ali Mohammad Fazilatfar, Hamid Allami 252-263
vi
ISSN 2200-3592 (Print), ISSN 2200-3452 (Online)
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia
Women Empowerment in the Realms of Institutionalized

Religion and Patriarchy:
El Saadawi’s Firdaus and Yezierska’s Sara as Examples
Abdullah K. Shehabat
Department of English Language and Literature, Tafila Technical University, Jordan
Received: 08-03-2016 Accepted: 20-05-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

Published: 01-09-2016 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.5p.1 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.5p.1
Abstract
This paper explains how the two protagonists, Firdaus and Sara, successfully paved their own ways in search of self-
liberation despite the authoritarian patriarchy and institutionalized religions that plagued them. El Saadawi's Woman at
Point Zero and Yezierska’s Bread Givers represent the fruitful struggle these protagonists experienced as they come to
forge an identity and be themselves. The paper argues that the protagonists manage to free themselves, establish their
own spiritual homes at their own homes and assert the potentials of their femininity despite their endings. Empowered
by the powers of reading, strong will and meticulous work, the protagonists were able to realize their own material
independence and achieve their lifelong ambitions. However, through Firdaus' and Sara's journeys of breaking their
silence, they were subject to different patterns of self-annihilation. While Firdaus was sentenced to death for killing a
pimp, Sara embraced living under the hegemony of an authoritarian husband.
Keywords: Women empowerment, authoritarian patriarchy, institutionalized and/or gendered religion, spiritual
feminist homes
1. Introduction
This paper examines two models of women who belong to two different social, religious and cultural backgrounds in
search of their own self-actualization, yet resort to self-annihilating procedures to doing so. This study therefore delves
into two buldingromans, long narratives that revolve around the life stages of the protagonists from early childhood to
maturity, Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero (1975) and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers (1925). They also
relate the oppression of the protagonists, Firdaus and Sara, to patriarchy and institutionalized religion. The paper argues
that the protagonists manage to free themselves and establish their spiritual homes of success and independence. The
novels are analyzed from some different perspective of feminism which asserts that women are doubly-oppressed by the
virtues of their gender and social class.
1.1 About the Novels
Although not written in the same period, the novels in question represent literary works for two major authors who
write from a feminist perspective yet belong to two different waves of feminism. El Saadawi’s work meets the
characteristics of the second wave feminism, whereas Yezierska’s work meets the first wave. However, both works
have many commonalities, especially in terms of authoritarian fathers, institutionalized religion and women's struggle
for equality and autonomy. Cooke (2007) likens El Saadawi's work to universal masterpieces of literature, like that of
Sophocles'. She hints at the style employed by the author and how it enabled the readers to be drawn into the
catastrophic life of an Arab lady in prison, one day before her execution. Also, Cooke elaborates on the way El Saadawi
succeeded in making Firdaus' own disappointments and pains as if her own (qtd. in El-Saadawi (b), viii). In short, El
Saadawi’s novel revolves around Firdaus, a woman condemned to death for killing a pimp. It retells her childhood with
her family, the act of rape committed against her by her uncle and how she became a prostitute and finally her rationale
for killing.
On the other hand, Yezierska’s novel is about Sara Smolinsky, an immigrant child growing up with a family of three
sisters in New York. The sisters' identities were shaped by their father's "fiercely religious patriarchal beliefs" who, like
Firdaus' father, believes that a "Jewish woman has little to hope for as an individual" (Bucci 47). Sara worked hard to
help alleviate her family's hunger and deprivation. To do so, she collects coal ashes for heat and sells mackerel.
However, doing this kind of job is not very unusual for immigrant families' children who dream of having promising
dreams. Ewen (1985) explains how immigrant children work on utilizing the city debris and pieces of wood as sources
of their income and also as a source to financially support their families (152-3). As a coming-of-age girl, she used to
watch her authoritarian father as he forces his daughters to marry wealthy men under the pretext of his Jewish religious
teachings. None of her sisters was married based on her own choice or based on love. Her sisters’ dreams for a marriage
of love turn to be distant because they obey their father’s will. Recognizing the positive role of education, Sara pursues
IJALEL 5(5):1-5, 2016 2
her education at the local school and attends a college, where she earns a degree in education. This eventually qualifies
her to teach for an elementary school in New York, thus realizing the American dream. Influenced by the American
dream, Sara refuses to submit to her father's ambitions regarding her future. However, as an outsider in America, she
has had many problems, especially for being identified "un-American".
The discussion below will include two parts: Part one is twofold (patriarchy and religion) and is related to the factors
that look down at women and therefore oppress them while part two sums up the protagonists' journey into self-
liberation. For each part, excerpts from the novels will be provided along with commentary and criticism from different
schools of feminism.
2. Patriarchal Discourse
Patriarchal authority plays a big role in suppressing, marginalizing and silencing women. Socially constructed roles
often thwart the potentials of women and deny their rights of education and work which represent the passage women
can take to the world of autonomy. Here, as far as the protagonists in the current study are concerned, readers will be
stunned to notice that it is not only the authoritarian male who oppresses women, but it is also women themselves who
play a role in oppressing other women. Grant (1993) refers to victimized woman as "category woman," a term derived
from an early radical feminist notion i.e., women are oppressed not only by virtue of their class or race, but also by the
fact of their womanhood. Grant mentions “[t]he fact that they were treated collectively as inferior group by the
[patriarchy] justified the emerging view that the connections between them as women outweighed all others” (20).
That said, the protagonists in El Saadawi and Yezierska's novels are oppressed for being females. In the course of her
opposition to feminist biocriticism which “places the body at the center of a search for female identity”, Showalter
(2009) alerts that the biological difference can be used as a pretext to justify the domination of one sex over the other
(252). To escape the hardships she experiences at home and to cope with male supremacy and assigned gender roles,
Firdaus turns to prostitution. Here, I argue that despite the negative representation in the Eastern and Western cultures
about the image of a prostitute, becoming a prostitute has equipped Firdaus with a sense of empowerment over her
oppressor. This has had some positive impact on her throughout the novel where readers can notice how she was able to
usurp most men's financial and physical powers. This, in turn, has equipped her with more rebelliousness and challenge,
a feature that not only help them dominate men but also break their silence. Drawing upon the same theme, Joreen
(1969), notices that a bitch has a positive meaning, that “a woman should be proud to declare that she is a bitch because
bitch is beautiful […] Bitches don’t particularly like passive people[…] women are trained to be passive and have
learned to act that way even when they are not” (5-7).
In patriarch-dominated societies, women are perceived as being biologically and socially inferior and also as being
subordinate to men. The protagonists in question feel they are socially discriminated against, silenced and oppressed.
This accounts for their loss of identity and alienation from humanity despite their endeavors to achieve social
acceptance. It might also force these women to embrace a self that may not belong to her.
In fact, understanding the inner selves of the two feminist protagonists is necessary since it helps readers understand
why patriarchy suppresses women as they attempt to speak up. According to Lyons (1988) the self is divided into either
“connected self” [nonautonomous] and “separate/objective self” [autonomous] (55). Assumingly, while males are
supposed to be autonomous, females are considered “nonautonomous”. Sara and Firdaus are therefore autonomous-
driven since their acts and choices indicate they no longer accepted being connected with societal stereotypes that
always force them to be inferior. They had great ambitions rather than soaking chicken in the morning for their
husbands to make lunch (Woman at Point Zero, 33). Teicholz (1988) comments on a self that is similar to that of Sara’s
father and Firdaus’ uncle. Teicholz states that “individuals who were unable to develop ambitions and goals would
indeed suffer a gap or a deficit in the self; or…would be unable to evolve attainable ambition” (36). This could be an
excellent interpretation to what occurred to Sara’s father after his arrival to America and Firdaus’ uncle, who depends
on his kinsfolk in making his living rather than having his own job; they are unable to bring together religion and
secularity. They had no reason, no ambitions, and no real understanding of religion. Sara’s father could not celebrate the
American dream, so he tried to cover this “emptiness” with the power of institutionalized religion. This sort of self,
according to Teicholz, leads him to a unique sense of “I-ness” (116), thus letting him oftentimes think of pride as more
dominant than reason.
Though women in a patriarchal society are exposed to material, physical and sexual exploitation, they respond
differently. El Saadawi’s novel sheds light on the miserable life of Firdaus who is abused sexually by her family and
friends and legally by the court which does not take her psychological state as a prostitute and a victim of patriarchy
into account when the death penalty is pronounced. As most Egyptian women in the 1970s, Firdaus was not allowed to
see her fiancé because it went against the traditions of her family and society. She also had to accept her suitor simply
because her guardian had agreed on him. She had been beaten up by her husband with a pair of shoes, a form of
violence that caused her physical as well as psychological harm.
Similarly, Yezierska depicts women as helpless victims and scapegoats of the Jewish patriarchal traditions which
exploit them materially and physically. Smolinsky utilizes religion for his own purposes and obliges his daughters to
earn a living. He constantly tells off his wife for attempting to make decisions and insists that all of his daughters’
wages come to his pocket. As he intends to establish a business of his own, he denies his daughters’ right to choose
their marriage partners whom he greedily expects to help him financially.
IJALEL 5(5):1-5, 2016 3
Gender-based oppression and violence are not necessarily enacted upon women by their husbands, fathers or brothers.
Rather, it is sometimes enacted by other women such as mothers and sisters. Woman- woman oppression is a common
theme in the works of El Saadawi and Yezierska. Joreen (1969) claims that women are oppressed by other women
as much if not more than by men and their hatred for them is usually greater (7). In one incident, a landlady refuses to
rent Sara a room because she is a woman. Similarly, Firdaus is vulnerable to the hatred and cruelty of her uncle’s wife
who used to approve the violence and abuse enacted upon Firdaus by Sheikh Mahmoud. In Joreen’s view, this raised
the question of ‘‘what is it that unites women under the same banner?” (7-8) certainly women in both texts do not show
any sort of unity, thus enforcing and maintaining male supremacy.
3. Institutionalized and/or Gendered Religion
Institutionalized religion rationalizes the stereotypes about the mental and emotional inferiority of women. El Saadawi's
novel highlights the issue of religious hypocrisy in the Arab society, where men manipulate religion to enslave women.
That is, they warn that Allah will banish them if they disobey the orders of their fathers and husbands, do not veil their
faces or castrate themselves from the public life. The religious terror and hypocrisy some Arab and Muslim women
endure is comparable to that of Puritanism which ostracized or killed women for pardonable crimes when committed by
their male counterparts. Firdaus sarcastically responds by revealing that her father
knew very few things. … how to sell a buffalo poisoned by his enemy before it died, how to exchange his
virgin daughter for a dowry when there was still time, how to be quicker than his neighbor in stealing from the
fields once the crops were ripe, …, I would see him walking with the other men like himself as they
commented on the Friday sermon, on how convincing and eloquent the imam had been to a degree that he had
surpassed the unsurpassable. For was it not verily true that stealing was a sin, and killing was a sin, and
defaming the honor of a woman was a sin (Woman at Point Zero 12).
What Firdaus’ father considers a sin contradicts what he does in his daily life since he cheats people, steals their fields,
treats his daughter as a commodity, and despises his wife. The narrator also draws attention to the hypocrisy of the
imam, a clergyman, who likens the love of the ruler to the love of Allah during prayers, “that love of the ruler and love
of Allah were one and indivisible” (Woman at Point Zero 12). Such a comparison introduces man as a divine being to
whom women should submit and worship. In another example of religious hypocrisy, Firdaus recollects the story of her
marriage to Sheikh Mahmoud, who prays five times a day in the mosque but hits her with his shoes. When she
complains to her uncle, he emphatically says that “all husbands beat their wives” (Woman at Point Zero 44) as part of
their family obligations. Undoubtedly, both Sheikh Mahmoud and her uncle are hypocrites because Islam demands
gentle and equal treatment of women.
In like manner, Yezierska’s novel perceives religion as a tool to exploit women and implant certain myths in their
minds. Sara mentions that her father preached that “the prayers of his daughters did not count because God did not
listen to women. Heaven and the next world were only for men. Women could get into Heaven because they were wives
and daughters of men” (Bread Givers 9). He further recites from Torah that “a man has a right to hate an old maid for
no other reason but because no man had her, so no man wants her” (Bread Givers 96). These excerpts suggest that
religion discriminates against women and denies their equal rights to men. It further entails the phallocentric religious
and social ideologies reinforce man's authority over women. Although Judaism preaches against greediness which is
notably considered one of the great sins that has plagued people, Smolinsky greedily collects the few dollars his
daughters earn through their work. This religious hypocrisy is eloquently described by Sara who mentions that
there was father with a clear head from his dreams of the Holy Torah, and he’d begin to preach to each and
every one of us our different sins that would land us in hell. … They couldn’t stand father’s preaching
anymore than I, but they could suffer to listen to him, like dutiful children who honor and obey and respect
their father, whether they like him or not. If they ever had times when they hated Father, they were too
frightened of themselves to confess their hate (Bread Givers 65).
Although Sara’s father adheres to Judaism, he never perceives its teachings correctly. Instead of nursing his dying wife,
he runs to the synagogue where he believes he can help her more by praying than by staying with her. This superficial
adherence to religion provides men with an opportunity to gain more respect and power and be exempted from
punishment. Despite the physical harm Smolinsky causes to the landlady whom he severely hits, he is not punished
owing to his reputation as a pious man.
Such manipulations of Islam and Judaism significantly result in the distortion of the image of religion as a conciliatory
and impartial social apparatus that cultivates equality and mutual respect among genders, nations and culture. As a
result, Firdaus and Sara neither value religions nor ever think of them as good solutions to their daily life matters. They
also challenge the religious teachings their parents and communities promote.
4. Quest of Self-empowerment
Arising from the miserable living conditions Firdaus and Sara experienced they sought to establish their own identities
in societies whose religions and patriarchies candidly marginalize and oppress women for their gender. However,
Firdaus and Sara benefited from every available condition to empower themselves, especially in light of reading and
work. Alcoff (1988) thoroughly elaborates on how a subject can “choose[s]” the discursive positions she occupies. She
IJALEL 5(5):1-5, 2016 4
sees women’s lives as a necessary point of departure for feminism and explains how an economic position might play a
grand role in helping females better choose. She maintains,
[T]he concept of positionality [and/or the economic choice] allows for a determinate though fluid
identity of woman that doesn’t fall into essentialism…being a “woman” is to take up a position within
a moving … context and to be able to choose what we make of this position and how we alter this
context (435).
Since ‘positionality' is an important pillar of (Marxist) feminism, it is clear that protagonists’ decisions are taken
carefully after long struggle with their societal standards and patriarchal authority because they had to be responsible for
their choices. Sara, for example, insists not to accept charity, for not being a beggar, to purchase the herring which she
used to earn money to help her family pay the rent (Bucci 48). She mentions "I want to go into business like a person
because earning twenty-five cents a day made me feel independent, like a real person" (Bread Givers 21).
The same previous idea is further supported by Cott (1987) who assumes that the "material conditions of wage-earning
and urban settlement made it feasible for a significant minority of women to distinguish themselves from the lot of
women, to assert individual choice in livelihood [and] personal relationships" (39). Improving their financial
circumstances will enable them to take a ‘position’ and/or an 'economic choice' in their society. It is argued that
capitalism "reinforces the patriarchal ownership and controls the structures of society all within the false discourse of
women's liberation and economic choice" (Julia para.3). However, I argue that even with the unassuming nature at work
and the low wages this economic choice may liberate these women from patriarchal authority and may well give them
many opportunities to proceed ahead. Firdaus’ and Sara’s choices lead them to positions that evade them being
exploited, which could be interpreted as positive.
In addition to labor and economic choice, exploitation plays a great role in empowering protagonists to be decision
makers. Smolinsky used to take all the wages earned by his daughters while he stayed at home reading religious books.
Also, Firdaus’ uncle took her dowry without giving her any money. Marxists believe that since the human being is the
one who creates the labor, s/he should be able to have the power over it. Although women's labor issue is always a
continuation and a reproduction of the masculine hegemony, it functions as an empowerment factor for them. Through
their work force earnings and prominence, they can buy some products that would enable them to be independent and
therefore liberate themselves (Julia, para. 2). This notion is further emphasized by McRobbie (2007) who explains that
an economic choice functions to "displace traditional modes of patriarchal authority" (718). This supports the current
argument which emphasizes that the protagonists have used their economic choices as empowering factors to fight
patriarchal authority and attain their liberties.
Despite her fatal end, Firdaus manages to speak and respond at the end of the narrative as she announces her refusal to
live in a hypocrite and a masculine-oriented society and as she makes her choice to kill. She is therefore portrayed as a
victim of gendered discrimination which estranges her from her family and society and drives her to prostitution. Like
any other Egyptian girl, nobody asks her whether she wanted to get her clitoris removed and whether she wants to
marry Sheikh Mahmoud who is as old as her father. Shockingly, she recognizes that she does not even know which fruit
she prefers because she never thought about what she likes and dislikes. When Bayoumi, the guy she married and a
replicate of her father, asks her whether she prefers oranges or tangerines, she replies “no one has asked me before
whether I preferred oranges or tangerines. My father never bought us fruit. My uncle and my husband used to buy it
without asking me what I preferred” (Woman at Point Zero 47). These conditions evoke her quest of self empowerment
which she expresses in her questions “Who was I? Who was my father? Was I going to spend my life sweeping the
dung out from under the animals?” (Woman at Point Zero 16) These questions instilled in Firdaus a passion for making
decisions. Her decision to be a prostitute proves to be very empowering as she learns to choose her own apartment,
clothing and the men she sleeps with.
Education also plays a major role in empowering the protagonists. Hurrelmann and Albert (2006) argued that the socio-
economic background positively affects educational performance and therefore results in more promising future (qtd. in
Scharff 2009). As an educated woman who embraces the American dream, Sara rejects the patriarchal belief that a
woman without a man is "less than nothing" (Bread Givers 205). She declines the marriage proposal of Max Goldstein
because he denies her the right to express herself. Her fascination with the American culture encourages her to
immigrate to the United States where "it’s a new life now [where] women do not need men to boss them" (Bread Givers
137). In a conversation with her mother, she emphatically discloses that she can't "respect a man who lives on the blood
of his wife and children. If you had any sense, you would arrest him [her father] for not supporting you” (Bread Givers
130). Repelling against a male-dominated family, she sets out to forge a new life for herself and make a complete break
with the past. Immigration to America enables her to forget the times," Thank God, I'm living in America! You made
the lives of the other children! I'm going to make my own life!" (Bread Givers 138). She proclaims.
5. Conclusion
It is found that there are many commonalities between the protagonists in the novels addressed. Protagonists in El
Saadawi and Yezierska’s novels engage in struggle against the oppression they are exposed to by patriarchy and
institutionalized religion. They suffer in their homes of origin due to the prevailing religious and patriarchal beliefs.
However, both reject these beliefs and decided to forge special identities of their own in search of self-liberation and
IJALEL 5(5):1-5, 2016 5
self-empowerment. Another commonality is that both have benefited from the economic choices available for them and
employ these choices to reject the exploitation of patriarchal authority and gendered religions.
The decisions the protagonists make in the two works have equipped them with unlimited powers. Their pursuit of
knowledge empowers them to demand equal rights for women and relate the dependence and docility of traditional
women to illiteracy. Through reading, Firdaus realizes that there is another world that deserves exploration more than
the ‘ignorant’ world of her father which engenders gender inequalities. Likewise, Sara spends many of her decisive
years running after her education despite the familial obligations and life complexities. She excels at school and
achieves her lifelong dreams.
In short, in El Saadawi’s novel, Firdaus realizes her means of self-independence and freedom through the power of
reading (knowledge), the power of strong will, and the power of work. In Yezierska’s novel, Sara seeks material
independence i.e., her economic liberating choice, and fulfills her life ambitions and dreams. Yet, her preference of the
company of man and sometimes his supremacy to independence unveils a self-sabotaging behavior.
References
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and difference. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, London School of Economics and Political Science).
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Analytic Press: London.
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The Effect of Three Kinds of Reading Strategies on EFL

Learners’ Reading Comprehension and Gender Difference
Using Think-aloud Protocol
Ali Fathi Karizak
Department of English Language, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran
E-mail:[email protected]
Laleh Khojasteh (Corresponding author)

English department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract
Reading comprehension strategy instruction is a powerful tool in teaching context. The present study examines the
effect of teaching three kinds of reading strategies on L2 learners’ reading comprehension ability as well as identifying
the gender role in this intervention. This quasi experimental study was carried out on 100 Iranian EFL students who
were chosen on the basis of a convenient sampling procedure. These participants were divided into two groups of
experimental and control. 50 students (experimental group) were taught to use three reading comprehension strategies
while reading English texts over 16 sessions, whereas the other 50 students (control group) were taught reading
comprehension traditionally. The results of the study revealed significant effect of reading strategies application on L2
learners’ reading comprehension ability. It also showed that not only male learners employ reading strategies more than
their female counterparts, but also male learners had higher reading comprehension performance in comparison to their
female counterparts. Thus, it seems that training of reading strategy raised students' awareness towards these strategies
and could encourage some learners to use them; which in turn could improve the students' reading comprehension
skill.
Keywords: Reading; Strategy; Reading strategies; Reading comprehension; Think-aloud protocol
1. Introduction
To be able to read and comprehend the text can help us live and interact socially, hence according to Celce-Murcia
(2001, p. 187) “not being able to either read or comprehend will result in a deep sense of detachment and uselessness”.
One of the most prominent academic language skills for learners’ of English as a second (ESL) and foreign language
(EFL) is reading. It is thought to be the primary means of gaining access to various sources of information, providing the
basis for synthesis and critical skills (Celce-Murcia, 2001). The prominent role of reading for learners of English as
second language (L2) has been widely recognized (Day & Bamford, 1998, Grabe, 2004). In spite of reading process’s
complete nature which involves both the L2 reader’s language and reading ability, utilization of reading strategies
contributes greatly to one’s success in reading comprehension (Bernhadt, 2005; Hudson, 2007). Bernhadt (2005) after
examination of three decades of L2 reading research pointed out some criteria including readers’ first language, their
literacy levels, their levels of L2 knowledge and levels of interactions of vocabulary as essential tenets of contemporary
in L2 reading.
Reading comprehension strategies allow readers to create meaning out of written texts in the most effective manner. In
fact, these strategies depict the way readers deal with a reading task, comprehend a reading task and their reactions
when they do not understand a reading text. Competent readers rely on background knowledge and experience to
understand what they are reading; as such they use that knowledge to make associations. On the other hand, readers
with difficulty go through a text without a pause. They do not consider, whether the text is sensible according to their
own prior knowledge or whether this knowledge can aid them to understand perplexing or troublesome materials
(Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). Thus, readers are better able to understand what they are reading if they are taught how to
associate themselves and their background knowledge with the text (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). Hence, it is necessary
for professional teachers to usher students through the path of becoming independent and effective learners in our fast–
growing society (Baier 2005). A plan which is chosen intentionally by the reader to execute and complete a given task
is called strategy (Paris, Lipson & Wixson, 1983; Paris, Wasik, & Turner, 1991). Students are said to have achieved
independence in using the strategy, when they can chose and apply a strategy deliberately (Wells, 1990). Moreover,
they will be able to use a number of comprehension and study skills together with the strategies. Reading strategy can
IJALEL 5(5):6-14, 2016 7
be defined as “deliberate, goal directed attempts to control and modify the reader’s efforts to decode text, understand
words and construct meaning out of text” (Afferbach, Pearson, & Paris, 2008, p.15).
A wide range of documents are available on the role which reading comprehension plays in language learning process
(Duke, 2003). The present study and many others indicate that reading comprehension is the corner stone of learning
process. As such, learners reading without comprehending the text have less chance of academic success comparing to
those who read with comprehension (Krashen, 1985). There is a lack of knowledge on adequate and efficient reading
comprehension interventions (Kamhi, 2005). Nowadays due to the increasing and abundance of available information, it
is of vital importance to be able to read and comprehend the written texts. It is necessary for all individuals, particularly
students, to have the ability of reading simple forms, interpreting advertisements, reading newspapers, and making use
of initial reading strategies in their job and lives (Marzban & Adibi, 2014).
Although in recent years an increasing number of studies have been conducted in the area of reading strategies usage
and performance, there are discrepancies between the results obtained from various studies in various contexts in terms
of reading performance and reading strategies use. Therefore, this study was carried out firstly because some studies
confirm the fact that using reading strategies affect students’ reading ability positively (Baier,2005; Koda, 2004; Grabe
& Stoller, 2002; Salataci & Akyel, 2000), while others (e.g. McKeown, Beck & Blake,2009) reached to the conclusion
that reading strategies do not give students the necessary tool to better comprehend the reading comprehension. And
secondly, few studies had been carried out to examine the real impact of instructing reading comprehension strategies
on learners’ reading comprehension in Iran (Khosravi, 2000). So since there is a discrepancy between the results of the
above mentioned studies and still there is more to learn about the application of reading strategies among genders in
Iran, it is vital to do this study to see if applying reading strategies can enhance students’ reading ability.
Based on the above mentioned gaps identified in the literature, the present study aims at providing answers to the
following questions:
1. Do reading strategies (skimming, scanning and locating the main idea and supporting details) have a significant
impact on reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners?
2. Is there any significant difference between male and female Iranian EFL learners in terms of their reading
comprehension performance?
3. Are there any differences between males’ and females’ strategy use while reading expository texts?
2. Relevant studies
Wright and Brown (2006) examined reading strategy instruction effect in increasing the reader’s awareness of reading
strategies, expanding the domain of strategies implication and encouraging learners to observe and think about their
reading. Result of their examination revealed that strategy training has encouraged readers to think about their strategy
application and seemingly has raised their confidence level in their own reading skill. In another study conducted by
Salataci and Akyel (2002), they tried to explore the possible impacts of teaching reading strategies on reading in
Turkish and English languages. The findings revealed a positive impact on both Turkish and English reading texts and
also on reading comprehension in English. Mikulecky and Jefferis (2004) state that when learners receive strategy
instruction, they “build on their already-established cognitive abilities and background knowledge” (p.183). Students
may think of reading strategies as a solution to their problems while reading which has substituted translation can
increase student’s confidence. As a result they may have faster access to the reading material they have to use in their
academic contexts. Poole (2009) points out that “a number of studies show the connection between increased reading
strategy use and skilled reading among L2 learners at the post-secondary level” (p.30).
McKeown, Beck and Blake (2009) carried out another study in which a standardized comprehension instruction for two
major approaches was designed and implemented over two years. The impact of the two experimental comprehension
instructional conditions, i.e. content and strategies and a control condition on learners was compared. In content
instruction students’ attention was on the content of the text by application of open and meaning- based questions from
the text. In the other instructional condition, particular procedures were taught to students which could guide their
access to text during reading of the text. At the end, outcomes of the study showed no difference between the
experimental groups’ performance on some aspects of comprehension.
According to Oxford and Burry-stock (1995), several researches show that females enjoy more strategies than males.
Most of which were done using Oxford’s strategy Inventory for language learning or SILL. The SILL is a 50 item
survey designed to reveal the self–reported language learning strategies that L2 learners utilize based on Oxford and
Burry–stock (1995). The SILL particularly consist of those questions which deal with six types of strategy, like
cognitive strategies , affection strategies, social strategies, comprehension strategies, etc. Goh and Foong (1997) has
also conducted the same research but this time the focus was on 175 Chinese L2 learners (50 female and125 male).
They also found the same results as females used more strategies than males.
On the other hand, while majority of the studies showed that females did a better job based on applying strategies than
males, other studies have found very few differences between males and females; for instance, Szoke and Sheoray
(2002) conducted a comparative study of Russian and Hungarian L2 learners of English. There were Ninety-nine
Hungarians students whom 32 were female and 67 were male. Russian participants were ninety-five, whom 50 were
male and 45 were female. Both groups of participants were English students at the beginning, intermediate and
IJALEL 5(5):6-14, 2016 8
advanced levels. The results of the study showed no significant difference on using strategies. Shamis (2003) has also
carried out a similar study on 99 Palestinian college English students and the results showed that there were no
significant overall differences between the participants. Zolfagharkhani and Kowsary (2013) conducted a study on 70
male and female pre- intermediate EFL learners, and the finding of their research indicated that gender of students did
not play a significant role in reading comprehension performance. As he mentioned once females did better than males
another time males did better, as a result he came to the conclusion that there is no difference on using strategies by the
participants based on the results of the research.
3. Methodology
The following section explains the methodological procedures applied in the study.
3.1 Design of the study
This study employed quasi-experimental design of pretest, treatment and posttest to answer the research questions. This
study is a ‘quasi-experimental design’ instead of an ‘experimental design’ because the allocation of participants was not
fully randomized which is the most significant factor in determining whether the design is true experimental or quasi-
experimental (Mackey & Gass, 2005).
3.2 Participants
The participants in this study consisted of a convenient sample of 100 L2 learners who at the time of this study was
conducted had enrolled in the language institution called Zabansara which again was chosen based on purposive
sampling. It is worth mentioning that although at first the researchers used random sampling in order to choose the right
language institution to conduct their study, the chosen institution did not allow the researchers to carry out this
experiment. Therefore, it was decided to go for convenient sampling which allowed the researchers to choose their
target population by means of easy availability or accessibility. The major disadvantage of this technique is that
researchers do not have any idea how representative the information collected about the sample is to the population as a
whole. However, according to Ary, Jacobs and Razavieh (2005) the information can still provide some equally
significant insights.
For the third research question of this study which was qualitative in nature, 8 participants (4 males and 4 females)
volunteered to sit in a different place than the other participants were seated in order to fulfill the requirements of think-
aloud protocol in which they had to verbalize their thoughts so that the tape recorder could record their voices.
3.3 Instruments
In order to gather the related data for the present study, two similar reading tests (with 4 reading texts each) for the pre-
test and post-test were adopted from “Select Reading” (Lee & Gunderson, 2001) ranging from 115 to 120 words in
length for each texts. The applied reading materials were expository texts which were suitable for the intermediate EFL
readers. The materials were selected based on three criteria of: 1) Level of difficulty, 2) Level of interest and 3) Variety
of topics based on real world issues and most important of all 4) the questions which were presented at the end of each
reading text were classified into the categories which were important for this study. Since this study trained the
experimental group for only three reading strategies (skimming, scanning and locating the main idea and supporting
details), it was therefore important to focus mainly on these type of questions. So the given questions were mainly
focusing on identifying the main idea, reading for specific information and matching the titles with the paragraph. All
criteria were approved by three experts in teaching English as a foreign language major (TEFL).
In order to see whether male participants (n=4) or their female counterparts (n=4) (in the experimental group) use more
reading strategies, think-aloud technique was chosen as another instrument for this study. Think-aloud protocol known
as verbal protocol analysis is a qualitative research method by which researchers can explore subject’s mental process,
especially the sequence of their cognitive events (Hannu & Pallab, 2002). This protocol is based on the assumption that
when subjects under investigation verbalize their thoughts while doing certain tasks, this does not interfere with their
sequence of thoughts and hence can be considered as a valid data on thinking (Ericsson & Simon, 1984). Therefore, to
see whether the male or female students use more reading strategies in both control and experimental groups, at first
these 8 volunteered students were trained how to verbalize their thoughts while doing the reading test. Training was
vital for such data collection (Yang, 2002) because some participants if are not trained properly might edit their
thoughts to the researcher (Ericsson & Simon, 1993) and this might affect the whole purpose of data collection. So
while being trained, participants of this study learned to express their thoughts without any attempts to control, direct or
observe them (Ghonsooly, 1997). Each of the participants had a tape recorder with them, so that without the
interference of the researchers they could talk and record their voices.
3.4 Data collection
In order to make sure that no significant differences exist between control and experimental group with regard to
reading comprehension ability, a pre-test was administrated, and the mean of the pre-test was calculated. As it can be
seen in the following table, control group’s mean score before treatment was 12.83 while for experiment group, it was
13.06. Despite the fact that experimental group’s mean score is a little above of the control group, t-test demonstrated
that this distinction is not significant. Because, P value is higher than 0.05 (P=.112> 0.05). Consequently, both groups
were homogenous with regard to their reading comprehension ability.
IJALEL 5(5):6-14, 2016 9
Table 1. The mean of pre-test scores of two groups
Groups N Mean SD T Sig.
Control 50 12.83 1.68 -619 .112
Experiment 50 13.06 2.01
Then, after fifteen sessions of treatment program, all participants in both groups participated in the post-test. The post-
test was similar to the test which had been administrated as the pre-test.
3.5 Data Analysis
For the first research question, in order to determine if mean scores of the experimental and control group were reliably
different from one another after the given treatment, independent sample t-test was applied. Similarly, in order to see if
any significant difference exist between Iranian male and female EFL learners regarding their reading comprehension
ability, independent sample t-test was administered. And for the third research question (to see if male or female
participants in the experimental group use more reading strategies), a qualitative research method was adopted to
analyze the transcription of participants’ verbalized thoughts (Cullum, 1998). But it is worth mentioning that after the
transcription of the tapes was over, one of the authors of this study divided the participants’ utterances into
“communication units” which were equivalent to grammatical sentences (Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995, p. 65). This is
important with think-aloud protocol method because in this type there might be many false starts, overlaps and
incomplete sentences in the utterance of the participants that might be misguiding to the whole data analysis. Hence, in
this classification, “minimal terminable unit” of meaning or “T unit” was considered as a unit which was going to be
used for this data analysis (Cooper, 1999, p. 242). Then all these units were coded to find the reading strategies that
were used more frequently by the participants of this study. It is important to note that, although this method is
considered useful, according to Johnson (1992, p. 71), it is “limited because of the small sample size”.
It is also worth mentioning that, although Nunan, (1999) listed 9 major reading strategies, this study only focused on
three reading strategies, skimming, scanning and locating the main idea, which were taught to the experimental group in
the treatment.
4. Findings
The first research question of the study was “Does learning reading strategies affect Iranian EFL learners’ reading
performance?” As it is shown in Table 2, experimental group (Mean=15.73) performed better than control group
(Mean=13.00) after receiving the treatment. The difference between two groups is significant because P< 0.05
(.000<.05). This finding verifies the fact that reading strategies instruction can make learners aware of these strategies
and probably make them more capable in reading comprehension. So, instruction of these strategies was proved to have
a significant positive effect on students’ reading comprehension.
Table 2. T-test for mean differences after treatment (post-test)

Groups Mean SD F T DF Sig.
Control 13.00 1.52 6.34 -8.162 49 .000
Experiment 15.73 1.80
The second research question of this research was “Is there any significant difference between male and female Iranian
EFL learners who applied reading strategies in terms of their reading comprehension performance?” In order to find the
answer to this question a t-test was administered and the results can be seen in Table 3.
Table 3. The difference between the performance of the male and female learners
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean t sig
Male 23 13.700 1.5138 .3027 3.615 .001
Female 27 12.300 1.2076 .2415 3.615
Observing the significance level of the distinction between the female and male students’ performance, it can be seen
that the distinction was statistically significant (.001<.05). In other words, the mean gained from males’ performance is
more than that of females’ performance. Thus, it is evident that the male group has outperformed the female one in
terms of reading comprehension performance.
IJALEL 5(5):6-14, 2016 10
To answer the third research question (Are there any differences between males’ and females’ strategy use while
reading expository texts?), a qualitative approach was adopted and the results are explained in the following.
As it can be seen in the following table, the result shows that men used more reading strategies (skimming, scanning
and locating the main idea and supporting details) than their female counterparts.
Table 4. The frequency and percentage of strategies use by male and female participants
males females
Reading strategies frequency percentage frequency percentage
skimming 4 10.8% 2 6.6%
scanning 19 51% 17 56%
locating the main idea and 14 37% 11 36%
supporting details
total 37 100% 30 100%
Out of four male participants, all of them (100%) reported that they read the title of the reading passage first and then
underlined the keywords and then started reading the first sentences of each paragraph very fast and underlined the key
words in those sentences. The following are representative comments for the male participants—“First I need to
understand what the topic is, so […] I underline this word here “Tamar Blackmore” because it is capital and might be
important, then I also underline this word “culture shock” because I guess this passage is about this person and how he
experienced culture shock”. This result is somehow different with female participants because 2 out of 4 of them
reported jumping to questions first without even skimming the passage (or at least this is what we could be interpreted
from their utterances and considering the short time slot after the recording had begun). However, these two female
participants reported that they too looked for main key words in the question part and underlined the keywords in the
each multiple choices provided after each question. It is only after reading the questions that they (only 2 female
participants) started to mix the skimming and scanning strategies together and looked for the answers (scanning) or
sometimes skimming (read through the text fast) to be able to answer the questions. This attitude is a bit surprising to
the researchers of this study, because the researcher who conducted these classes and trained these learners (in the
experimental group) recalls telling all the students in the class to always start reading the topic and skimming through
the text for a minute in order to get a general overview of what the text/passage is all about. And this shows how
learners, despite having practiced this for few weeks, can get back to their old habits perhaps when under pressure and
stressed.
The other two female participants; however, reported looking at the topic first and skimming through the text in
order to collect important information from the whole text. The representative comment from one of the above
mentioned female participants is “after knowing the topic, I need to know what the main idea of the text is, so I
will read the first line of all the paragraphs (then she started reading the first line), ok I underline this word
(drive) because I think these are important, then father, allow, movies and angry. So I guess the whole passage
can be summarized like this:
a) wanting to drive so badly
b) father gave him permission
c) losing track of time because of watching a movie
d) father got angry”
All in all out of the three strategies taught to the participants of this study, scanning was the most used strategy
by all the participants (male and female participants), followed by locating the main idea and supporting details
(both in the text and for the questions) and skimming.
It is also worth mentioning that all the participants used various other types of strategies such as inferencing,
skipping, repetition and translation to answer all the reading comprehension questions in the test. However, since
this study only focused on three reading strategies, skimming, scanning and locating the main idea and
supporting details, the results are only limited to these reading strategies.
5. Discussion
Question one asked: Do reading strategies have a significant impact on reading comprehension skill of Iranian
intermediate EFL learners? This question was posed with the purpose of finding out whether reading strategies
instruction can have any effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension skill. According to the results of the analysis
shown in Table 2, the answer is positive. Instruction of reading strategies can affect EFL learners’ reading skills
adequately and significantly improve students’ reading ability. The finding of this part of the study are consistent with
studies conducted by Wright and Brown (2006), Baier (2005), Koda (2004), Grabe and Stoller (2002), Salataci and
Akyel (2000), Harvey and Goudvis (2000), Kern (1989), Hamp-Lyons (1985), in which the researchers also found a
significant relationship between employment of reading strategies and reading comprehension improvement.
IJALEL 5(5):6-14, 2016 11
Furthermore, some other studies even found that vocabulary learning strategies positively affect reading comprehension
(Kafipour and Naveh, 2011). However, the findings of the current study are not in line with the results of studies carried
out by Shong (2010), Mckeown, Beck and Blake (2009), Soleimani and Hajghani (2013). These studies showed no
effect on EFL learners’ comprehension ability after using reading strategies while the current study found that strategy
instruction significantly improve EFL learners reading comprehension ability. The discrepancies found here between
the results provided above might possibly be due to the fact that the students who were the participants of this study
were in the intermediate level and according to Hong-Nam and Leavell (2006), intermediate level students use more of
learning strategies in comparison with beginning and advanced students and hence more strategic learners achieve more
in the proficiency continuum than their beginning and advanced level counterparts. The theory about the link between
proficiency level of the learners and the impact it can have on learners’ strategy adoption has been backed up by other
researchers such as Yau (2005) and YaaliJahromi (2002). Another reason for why the results of the above mentioned
studies differ might be due to the strategy instruction. According to Caposey and Heider (2003) reading strategy
instructions can be effective only when they are intensive, explicit, and most important of all persistent. That is why
Poole (2005) reported that reading strategies that focuses on boosting comprehension is less frequently explicitly taught
by teachers and more emphasis is usually given to literacy skills such as decoding and phonological awareness.
The second research question was posed in order to figure out the gender distinction among Iranian EFL learners in
terms of reading comprehension performance. As previously reported, the mean of male performance is higher than the
mean of female performance. So, probably because of using more strategies, male participants did better in their reading
comprehension test than their female counterparts. The result of this study is line with another study conducted by
Phakiti (2003). This study focused on 173 male and 211 female Thai college students and the results showed that male
participants outperformed female participants in terms of cognitive and metacognitive strategies utilization. However,
This result is in contrast with the study which was conducted by Keshavarz and Ashtarian (2008) who reported that in
general, regardless of the type of the text (e.g. essay, history, and short story), women are better comprehenders than
men. The result of this study is not also in line with another study carried out by Yazdanpanah (2007) who reported that
there is no significant difference between the overall performance of males and females in terms of reading
comprehension performance. However, this study also reported that in general women did better in identifying the main
idea, guessing meaning from context, and text coherence questions while men outperformed women in males’
outperformed females in reading for specific information, identifying referential information, and matching titles with
paragraph. The result of this study is also in contrast which another study conducted by Mehrpour, Razmjoo and Kian
(2011) who reported that gender had no significant impact on learners' reading comprehension performance. As it can
be seen here, again the result obtained by this study is at odd with few other studies mentioned above. Although it is
very important to be cautious while approaching the area of gender and reading strategy use, one possibility might be
due to the level of the proficiency learners in each study might have that have led to various results obtained by these
studies. For example, in the study which was conducted by Poole (2005), the result showed that reading strategy usage
was not very much influenced by gender for advanced level learners. Likewise, in another study conducted by Sheorey
and Mokhtari (2001), the results showed that there is not a significant difference between 152 ESL advanced level
students in terms of reading strategy usage. So we can see that while studying the relationship between gender and
reading strategy, the role of learners’ proficiency level should be carefully documented because according to Poole
(2005, p. 17), “whatever gender differences that exist at lower proficiency levels could be largely neutralized for
advanced students.”
The result of the third research question showed that males used more strategies than females. The results of this
research question is at odds with the previous study research conducted by Poole (2009) who found that women make
more use of reading strategies comparing to men, or Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001) who believed that there is no
difference between males and females in the use of reading strategy. Similarly, Kafipour, Noordin and Pezeshkian
(2010) in another study but on language learning strategies found no significant difference between males and females
learners in the application of these strategies. In fact, Oxford (1993) suggests that females tend to be higher L2
achievers because of their higher level of strategy use and not because of any innate gender differences.
6. Conclusion
As it can be seen here, the majority of the studies chosen for the discussion section here had been conducted in the same
country, Iran, but the results showed a great degree of inconsistency. There are some studies that show no significant
difference between males and females in terms of reading performance and the usage of reading strategies while some
others showed that women do better both in terms of reading strategies usage and reading comprehension performance.
Some also, like this study, showed that male participants outperform their female counterparts in the former and the
latter. This deep inconsistency between the results, according to the authors of this study, might have one key reason
and that is the type and the degree of the familiarity of male and female participants towards the given texts. This, in
turn, can have a major contribution to how they (males or females) approach the reading text and how they perform the
reading questions. According to Brantmeier (2001), the content of a passage is related to one’s achievement in reading.
As he stated, men outperform on more science-oriented texts while women gain higher reading scores on subjects
related to humanities. Apparently, such results are associated with one’s perception of one’s interests and might involve
utilization of different strategies. Sotoudehnama and Asadian (2011) also reported that in the study they had done on
test type on reading comprehension, the female participants did better in female-oriented text, men did better on male-
oriented text and both genders performed the same when they were dealing with neutral text. So we can conclude that
unless all these studies come from the same nature, similar text type and similar gender-oriented texts, we cannot really
IJALEL 5(5):6-14, 2016 12
say whether male or female participants are better in reading comprehension performance or even reading strategies.
Poole (2005) also believe that advanced ESL readers’ strategies are primarily influenced by factors other than gender.
So, it is strongly suggested that in order to assess learners’ reading strategies, researchers must disregard passages that
has preconceptions suitable for one gender or the other. This is, in fact, one of the limitations of this study because
except focusing on the genre of the reading text for both pre- and posttests, the researchers of this study did not take
into consideration whether the texts chosen were neutral in general. And now analyzing whether those texts were more
male-oriented or female-oriented is out of the scope of this study. Another limitation of this study is that this study only
included some of the students in one private language center, who had to pass their reading course, and this research
may not be generalized to the other language centers, schools and university students in other contexts.
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Philanthropic Discourse vs Promotional Genre:

To Study the Rhetorical Choices of Promotion and
Structural Moves of Two Appeal Letters in Hong Kong
Patrick Chi-wai LEE (Corresponding author)
School of Humanities and Languages, Caritas Institute of Higher Education
18 Chui Ling Road, Tseung Kwan O, N.T. Hong Kong

Abstract
Based on two appeal letters from (i) Oxfam Hong Kong and (ii) Hong Kong Committee For United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF), this paper aims to study the rhetorical choices of promotion and structural moves of two appeal letters,
exploring whether the philanthropic discourse can be viewed in line with the promotional genre. The findings appear to
reveal that there is a hybrid form of promotional genre in philanthropic discourse, with reference to Bhatia’s (1998)
generic patterns in fund-raising discourse framework. There are similar structural moves of advertising, although the
move sequences could vary. However, the move of “introducing the cause” is always found at the very beginning
because the readers are more interested to realise what the main theme of the appeal letter is. In addition, appeal letters
are found to be modelled in promotional genre, in which they are rhetorical choices of promotion attracting attention
from readers – by using “you” and marked devices of attention getters. The findings in this study appear to be in line
with the argument that promotional concerns have influenced the nature of philanthropic discourse.
Keywords: appeal letters, Hong Kong, promotional genre, rhetorical choices of promotion
1. Introduction
This paper aims to examine two appeal letters collected from two international fund-raising non-profit organisations in
Hong Kong: (i) Oxfam Hong Kong and (ii) Hong Kong Committee For United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Their purpose of writing is to promote the cause of charity, that is, to persuade an audience of Hong Kong residents to
donate money for war victims, and for the education of children. The choice of these appeal letters is motivated by an
interest in this type of writing which does not promote goods or services, but charity. The audience is not asked to
purchase a commodity but to give away money for something which they cannot redeem personally. The question arises
how this type of writing can be viewed in line with other types of promotional writing, especially, whether there is some
particular genre after which the appeal letters are modeled. The research objectives in this paper aim to study the
rhetorical choices of promotion and structural moves of two appeal letters, exploring whether the philanthropic
discourse can be viewed in line with the promotional genre. The significance of this study is to shed light on
understanding whether promotional concerns have influenced the nature of philanthropic discourse.
2. Promotional Genre vs Fund-raising Text
The prime example of promotional genre is advertising. Advertisements are all around us. Featherstone (2007) rightly
claims that we are living in a “consumer culture”, where many of our discursive activities, whether in business or
academic, or even in personal context, have to some extent been influenced by promotional concerns. The inevitable
result of this is that many of the institutionalized genres, whether they are social, professional or academic, are seen as
incorporating elements of promotion. In addition, Fairclough (1993:141) points out, “… there is an extensive
restructuring of boundaries between orders of discourse and between discursive practices; for example, the genre of
consumer advertising has been colonizing professional and public service orders of discourse on a massive scale,
generating many new hybrid partly promotional genres…”.
Among other research studies, Rotzoll et al. (1986), Kotler, P. and Armstrong (2014) and Wharton (2015) discuss the
basic functions of advertising (product or service) and identify two primary roles: to inform and to persuade, and an
effective advertising links the wants and needs of the consumer with the properties and functions of the product. The
same persuasive purpose is common to a variety of advertisements, promoting a certain kind of products or services.
According to Weinstein (2009), fund-raising texts share with these diverse advertisements this one feature, the
persuasive function. They persuade readers to donate for charity. More specifically, Clarke and Norton (1997: 21) state
that "a fundraising text is more about "selling" than "telling" and it is about persuading people to give". In the previous
studies, different linguists may use different approaches for conducting an analysis of the same fund-raising letter. Let
me cite as an example and a case in point the eleven contributions in Mann and Thompson (1992). Eleven linguists used
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 16
eleven different approaches to analyse one and the same fund-raising letter. The differences of approach resulted from
different degrees of detailing of clause relations, and of degrees of focus on either genre or register. The authors tried to
do justice to a "diversity of language functions" (Mann and Thompson 1992: 2). From seeing eleven different analyses
at work for one and the same text, it is clear that "there is no consensus on what the relevant set of function is" (Mann
and Thompson 1992: 1). However, Bhatia (1998; 2004; 2008; 2010) has pointed out that like most promotional letters
in business contexts, fund raising letters also have a relatively simple move discourse structure. Promotional concerns
have influenced the nature of entire range of professional and even academic discourse. In Bhatia (1997), he introduces
a further dimension to this debate about hybridization; he (1998) also makes an analysis of genre appropriation and
mixing on “generic patterns in funding raising discourse”, with the aims to investigate the influence of present-day
corporate advertising and marketing strategies on the development of philanthropic discourse. Bhatia (1998: 14)
highlights the generic patterns in funding raising discourse, listing the similarities and differences in advertising and
philanthropic discourse (see table 1).
Table 1. Summary of Similarities and Differences in Advertising and Philanthropic Discourse

ADVERTISING DISCOURSE: PHILANTHROPIC DISCOURSE:
ESTABLISHING CREDENTIALS [1] ESTABLISHING CREDENTIALS
(By individual needs) (By community needs)
(By long established services) (By established cause)
(By gratitude for past support) (By gratitude for past support)
(By celebrity endorsement) (By celebrity endorsement)
(By mission statement)
(By credentials of trustees)
INTRODUCING THE OFFER [2] INTRODUCING THE CAUSE
OFFERING INCENTIVES [3] OFFERING INCENTIVES
(Special offers discounts) (Income tax rebates)
ENCLOSING BROCHURES [4] ENCLOSING BROCHURES
(Details of offer) (Brochures and mission statements)
(Request / order forms) (Pledge or donation form)
SOLICITING RESPONSE [5] SOLICITING SUPPORT
USING PRESSURE TACTICS [6]
ENDING POLITELY [7] EXPRESSING GRATITUDE
Source: Bhatia: 1998: 14, “Generic Patterns in Funding Raising Discourse”)
His finding is to highlight the notion of appropriation of rhetorical strategies across closely related genres. In the case of
philanthropic discourse, it is interesting to see that in a number of respects it appears to be very similar to much of
corporate promotional discourse, especially when seen in the context of an increasing liberal attitude towards
appropriation of generic resources from a much more powerful and hence dominant corporate promotional discourse.
3. Methodology
3.1 The collection of the texts under study
The process of studying more than thirty, ending up with two appeal letters: those two texts are arrived at by two
international non-profit making organisations in Hong Kong. Those two appeal letters are standardized presentation and
they appear to be most representative, as checked from the text makers from those two international non-profit making
organisations, UNICEF and OXFAM.
3.2 Format of analysis: Segmentation within text, function and explanation
Two sample texts are studied and each sample text is divided into single units -segments (seg.), and the segmentation is
intended to be a superficial, simple reflection of visible subdivisions (most often sentences, but not all the time). With
reference to the textual analysis of all those "segments", this study is to analyse how the words and syntactic structure
create effects as the text is read. The function of each segment is reviewed and the rhetorical purpose of each segment in
the text is explained. Segments, functions and explanations are related in columns. How different types of segments are
treated as exemplified below (Segs. 1-4)
Seg. 1
TEXT Dear Reader,
FUNCTION: Salutation
EXPLANATION: Crucial to the reality of a letter, personal touch with the reader
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 17
Seg. 2
TEXT A little help from our donors has repaired 380 school buildings this year
FUNCTION: Value the support
EXPLANATION: Solution is quoted as evidence of showing readers the use of resource
Seg. 3
TEXT Dear Reader,
Can you stop reading and think about something else?
FUNCTION: Relational Opening
EXPLANATION: Relational open (between "Dear Reader" and "you" in those two
segments)
Seg. 4
TEXT All we ask of you now is to put aside a minute to fill in the donation form…
FUNCTION: Soliciting response
EXPLANATION: Ask readers to fill in the donation form and it functions to solicit response from readers
3.3 Explanation of full analysis in table form
The following tables 2 and 3 list the findings of the genre mixing of promotional type and philanthropic discourse
(based on the sample texts 1 and 2):
Table 2. Full Analysis of an Appeal Letter from UNICEF – Sample Text 1

Segment TEXT FUNCTION EXPLANATION
Seg. 1 May xxxx Date  Date is crucial to the reality of the
letter.
Seg. 2 Dear Reader, Salutation  Crucial to the reality of a letter
 Personal touch with the reader
Seg. 3 Can you stop reading and think  Relational open (between "Dear
about something else? Segment 4b is an Reader" and "you" in segment 2
attention-getter and 3)
Seg. 4 (a)This is a letter about children (GIMMICK–  Segment 4b attracts readers'
in war, (b)so stop reading and Marked device) attention
switch your attention to (by stimulating readers' curiosity to
something more pleasurable, read more about this letter)
such as what you'll have for
dinner, or what’s on the
television tonight.
Seg. 5 Life would be far too stressful if  Segment 6 is an example to
we couldn't screen out illustrate the situation of segment 5
information that makes us INTRODUCING
uncomfortable. THE CAUSE
Seg. 6 Like, for example, the fact that  "suffering" is a lexical signal for
over 50,000 children are still the negative evaluation of the
suffering from the effects of war situation as a problem.
in Kosovo.
Seg. 7 Are you still with me? GIMMICK-  Cohere with segment 4 : attention
Seg. 8 Good, because statistically marked device getter
speaking about 30% of readers Attention-
normally would have stopped by maintaining  "Speech act - Conversation
the time they read that fact. device approach" is shown between
Seg. 9 And if you have made it this far, segments 7 and 8.
you are probably ready for
another one:
Seg. 10 It's been a year since the NATO INTRODUCING  "However" is a word showing the
bombings. THE CAUSE "contrast-relation" between
Seg. 11 However, for many children, situation stated in segments 9 and
life after the war is even worse 10.
than during the conflict.
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 18
Seg. 12 Ula, an ethnic Albanian
adolescent in Pristina, will be  Situation of reading a letter
reading a letter from her
brother just as you read this one.
Seg. 13 Reading helps her escape from  "help", "escape" are lexical signals
the confines of her bed. for the solution to the problem.
Seg. 14 Ula lost both legs in a landmine DETAILING  Landmine accident after the
accident after the end of the CAUSE bombing (cause)
bombing in Yugoslavia.  Ula lost both legs (problem)
Seg. 15 She knows her brother's letter by  Little else to read

heart, since there is little else to
read at the refugee camp.
Seg. 16 She has yet to summon up the  Forget about misery
courage to tell her brother about
her own life.
Seg. 17 She would like to forget about
her own misery.
Seg. 18 Victims like Ula need help. Soliciting a  Victims like Ula need help.
RESPONSE from  Categories of "Help" are
readers mentioned
Seg. 19 Help from UNICEF means she VALUE OF THE  "Reunited with families"
will be one of hundreds of SUPPORT  future tense - "will be"
children to be reunited with
their families.
Seg. 20 A little help from our donors has  has repaired school buildings
repaired 380 school buildings  past perfect tense
this year.
Seg. 21 That little help has delivered 60  has delivered medical supplies
metric tonnes of medical  past perfect tense
supplies.
Seg. 22 The same help has provided  has provided counseling to child
counseling to hundreds of casualties
child casualties of landmine  past perfect tense
accidents.
Seg. 23 In fact, with the enclosed ENCLOSING  Enclosed donor's form

donor's form, helping out is DONATION
almost as easy as it is to stop FORM
reading this letter.
Seg. 24 You've come this far, all we ask Soliciting  Fill in the donation form
of you now is to put aside a RESPONSE from
minute to fill in the donation readers to the
form and change the life of a charity  Change the life of a child.
child.
RESPONSE to the
problem by the
charity
Seg. 25 Yours sincerely Complimentary  Crucial to the reality of the letter
Close
Seg. 26 (handwritten signature) Signature
Seg. 27 Dr. Robert H. P. Fung ESTABLISHING
CREDENTIAL
Seg. 28 Chairman Position (in the
organisation)
Seg. 29 Hong Kong Committee For ESTABLISHING
UNICEF CREDENTIAL
United Nations Children's Fund
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 19
Table 3. Full Analysis of an Appeal Letter from OXFAM – Sample Text 2
Segment TEXT FUNCTION EXPLANATION
Seg. 1 Education now Headline  Main theme
BREAK THE CYCLE OF
POVERTY
Seg. 2 September xxxx Date  Crucial to the reality of the letter
Seg. 3 Dear Friend, Salutation  Crucial to the reality of the letter
 Personal touch with the reader
Seg. 4 Oxfam is glad you can read this  Relational open (between "Dear Friend"
letter EXPRESSING and "you" in segs. 3 and 4)
GRATITUDE  Involvement with reader
Seg. 5 We are also grateful to be able  In seg. 6, "But" is a word to show the
to write it. clause relation of "contrast" with the
Seg. 6 But there are 872 million INTRODUCING previous sentence
adults and 275 million THE CAUSE
children who can’t read or
write.
Seg. 7 Most of these illiterate people  Illiterate people are poor, very poor
are poor, very poor.
Seg. 8 An education is the most DETAILING  "help", "get out of " are lexical signals
important thing to help people CAUSE AND for the solution to the problem.
GET OUT OF POVERTY.
Seg. 9 Education is more than being VALUE OF THE  "Education" is more than being able to
able to read and write. SUPPORT read and write.
 In seg 8, it states about "education" is
important to get out of poverty. In seg 9,
it is a basis to elaborate more about
education in segs. 10, 11, 12.
Seg. 10 It’s about making a LIVING -  Cohere to seg.9, (education)it’s about
students learn skills to last a making a LIVING
lifetime
Seg. 11 It’s also about HEALTH - for  Cohere to seg.9, (education)it’s also
parents to know when children about HEALTH
need a doctor.
Seg. 12 It's about poor people  Cohere to seg.9, (education) it's about
protecting the few things they poor people protecting the few things
might have, and getting the they might have… by knowing the LAW.
things they deserve, by
knowing the LAW.
Seg. 13 In 1990, 155 governments DETAILING  It states that a basic education is "all the
agreed that a basic education is CAUSE knowledge and skills which people
"all the knowledge and skills need…
which people need if they are to  (general truth, present tense)
lead to a decent life."
Seg. 14 What is Oxfam doing? Question-answer  "Speech act - Conversation approach"
approach is shown between segs. 14, 15, 16, 17 and
18.
Seg. 15 The following stories are just a VALUE THE  improve education policy
few of our projects in poor SUPPORT  verb indicating change of state
countries.
Seg. 16 We also work to improve
education policy, as after all, it
is the government that has the
responsibility to provide a
basic, education for their
citizens.
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 20
Seg. 17 The 11 Oxfams around the  11 Oxfams around the world lobby for
world lobby for debt relief so debt relief so poor countries can have
poor countries can have more more money to spend on school systems.
money to spend on school
systems.
Seg. 18 And we also work to educate VALUE THE  work to educate the Hong Kong public
the Hong Kong public, SUPPORT  future solution
especially youth, on poverty -
why it happens and what can be
done.
Seg. 19 Visit the web site Soliciting the  Get more information about the
www.oxfam.org/educationnow RESPONSE from organisation
for more information. the reader
Seg. 20 What can YOU do? Question-answer  "Speech act - Conversation approach"
Seg. 21 The best thing to do is be an approach is shown between segment 14 and the
Oxfam Partner. following segments.
Soliciting
RESPONSE from
the readers
Seg. 22 Please donate what you can Imperative Clause
every month.  Reasons - "helps ensure that our projects
Seg. 23 Your regular support helps Soliciting get the funding they need" in segs. 23 and
ensure that our projects get the RESPONSE from 24 are given as prior to the imperative
funding they need. the readers clause in seg. 22.
Seg. 24 It also reduces administrative
costs.
Seg. 25 You can also join our basic Soliciting the  Soliciting response from reader to be a
education campaign or RESPONSE from volunteer
volunteer (see the last page). readers
Seg. 26 Thank you for your joining our EXPRESSING  Involve reader at the closing of the letter
work AGAINST poverty and GRATITUDE
FOR education.
Seg. 27 (handwritten signature) Signature  Crucial to the reality of the letter
Seg. 28 Lum Kwokchoi Full Name  "reality" - textual force (illocutionary
force)
Seg. 29 Education Coordinator Position (in the
organisation)
Seg. 30 Oxfam Hong Kong ESTABLISHING
CREDENTIALS
Seg. 31 P.S. Please support Oxfam. P.S. – Attention  P.S. is an attention getter.
Seg. 32 You'll be helping children get getter
an education, and their  "Reason - helping children get an
families get out of poverty. VALUE THE education … get out of poverty" in seg.
SUPPORT 32 is given as prior to the imperative
clause in seg. 31.
4. Findings and Discussion

4.1 Generalised move structure and sequence of the move
Overall, we found that there are similar structural moves with promotional genre for those two appeal letters from two
international non-profitable organisations. As stated in section 2 “Methodology”, those two appeal letters collected are
representative as pointed out by those two organisations, and the structural move includes (i) establishing credentials, (ii)
introducing the cause, (iii) detailing the cause, (iv) value of the support, (v) enclosing donation forms, (vii) soliciting
support and (viii) expressing gratitude. However, we found that the move of “offering incentive” is missing in both
samples of appeal letters (sample texts 1 and 2). Probably, the move of offering incentive by stating “income tax rebate”
could be found in some enclosed donation forms, not directly stated in the appeal letters. The following is a table listing
the move structure of genre mixing of advertising and philanthropic discourse.
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 21
Table 4. Structural Moves of those Two Sample Texts (Genre Mixing of Promotional and Philanthropic Discourse)
Segment TEXT 1 TEXT 2
APPEAL LETTER- UNICEF APPEAL LETTER- Oxfam
Seg. 1  Date  Headline
Seg. 2  Salutation  Date
Seg. 3  GIMMICK – Marked device attention-  Salutation
Seg. 4 getter  EXPRESSING GRATITUDE
Seg. 5  INTRODUCING THE CAUSE
Seg. 7  Marked device attention-maintaining
Seg. 8 device  DETAILING CAUSE AND
Seg. 9  VALUE OF THE SUPPORT
Seg. 11
Seg. 12
Seg. 13  DETAILING CAUSE
Seg. 14  DETAILING THE CAUSE  Question-answer approach
Seg. 15  VALUE THE SUPPORT
Seg. 16
Seg. 17
Seg. 18  Soliciting a RESPONSE from reader
Seg. 19  VALUE OF THE SUPPORT  Soliciting the RESPONSE from the
reader
Seg. 20  Question-answer Approach
Seg. 21  RESPONSE
Seg. 22  Imperative Clause
Seg. 23  ENCLOSING DONATING FORM  RESPONSE
Seg. 24  Soliciting RESPONSE
Seg. 25  Complimentary Close  Soliciting RESPONSE
Seg. 26  Signature  EXPRESSING GRATITUDE
Seg. 27  ESTABLISHING CREDENTIAL  Signature
Seg. 28  Position (in the organisation)  Full Name
Seg. 29  ESTABLISHING CREDENTIAL  Position (in the organisation)
Seg. 30 Nil  ESTABLISHING CREDENTIAL
Seg. 31 Nil  P.S. – Attention getter
 VALUE OF THE SUPPORT
As for the sequence of all moves from those two sample texts, it has revealed that the sequence of the structural moves
varies. However, the move of “introducing the cause” is always stated at the beginning because the readers are
interested in what the main theme mentioned in that particular text. Also, it is found that “establishing credential” is
found at the end, as a “re-enforcer to the readers that the particular charity has a good reputation and the spending of
their donation is properly distributed. As stated in section 2 “Promotional Genre vs Fund-raising Text”, Bhatia (1998:
14) has highlighted the generic patterns in funding raising discourse, and he further argues that like most business
promotional letters, fund raising letters also have a relatively simple move discourse structure. Based on those two
sample texts collected in Hong Kong, the findings in this paper appear to be in line with Bhatia’s (1998) argument,
supporting that promotional concerns have also influenced the nature of philanthropic discourse.
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 22
4.2 Rhetorical choices of promotion in appeal letters
4.2.1 Marked devices of attention-getters
In those two fund-raising appeal letters, there were some rhetorical choices of promotion which aim at getting “special”
attention from readers. For the sample text 1, it is found that there is a promotional marked device which is just like an
“advertising tool” of raising the attention from readers. The following segments 3 and 4 aim to attract the attention of
readers by “asking” readers not to read the appeal letter, by contrast, aim at stimulating the readers’ curiosity to see
what the main theme of the fund-raising appeal letter is.
segment 3 Can you stop reading and think about something else?
segment 4 This is a letter about children in war, so stop reading and switch your attention to something more
pleasurable, such as what you’ll have for dinner, or what’s on the television tonight.
Quoted from the seventh and eighth segments of the text as another illustration:
segment 7 Are you still with me?
segment 8 Good, because statistically speaking about 30% of readers normally would have stopped by the time
they read that fact.
The segments 7 and 8 are also promotional attention devices which aim to “maintain the attention” of readers by “cross-
checking” readers if they are still there to read the message.
4.2.2 Involvement of readers – Using “you”
According to Smith (1996: 113), ““you” is the word that used most frequently in the fundraising letters". True or not, it
is indeed used very frequently. Tannen (1989; 2005) also highlights that the use of the words “you” and “I” is critical as
they provide human interest. She (1898: 27) clearly points out that “Stories, anecdotes, and common names have some
of the same effect - but the most powerful way to engage the reader is by appealing directly to her: use the word "you".
That is an involvement device which is aimed to make the reader particular, which increases the possibility to solicit
response successfully.”
Examples:
Text 1:
Seg.
3 Can you stop reading and think about something else?
4 so stop reading and switch your attention to something more pleasurable, such as what you'll have for dinner...
7 Are you still with me?
25 Yours sincerely
Text 2:
Seg.
4 Oxfam is glad you can read this letter.
20 What can YOU do?
26 Thank you for your joining our work AGAINST poverty and FOR education.
32 You'll be helping children get an education, and their families get out of poverty.
As can be seen from the sample appeal letters 1 and 2, it is known to everybody that letters are meant to establish a
dialogue with a "you". While the pronoun "you" appears in various positions in the textual structure, the letters show it
in those steps where the anticipated success of the reader's donation (response) is described, e.g. "you can help 4 women
to build energy-saving stoves…" It seems that here the textual structure works together with style in some multiple
functions. The use of "you" in the letter format has some relational closing (quoted in Bhatia 1993: 55) which aims at
establishing good "business relations", and maybe some emotional satisfaction.
Relational closing is to add involvement with readers at the end of text by using an involvement device. "You" is an
involvement device, and the "relational closing of you" functions to increase response from readers by being a reminder
and also adding more involvement with readers in the text. That is the reason of why “soliciting response or support” is
always found near the closing of the appeal letters. All examples showing the relational closing of “you” are listed as
follows:
IJALEL 5(5):15-23, 2016 23
Examples:
Text 1:
Segment
24 You've come this far, all we ask of you now is to put aside a minute to fill in the donation form and change the
life of a child.
25 Yours sincerely (Complimentary close)
Text 2:
Segment
26 Thank you for your joining our work AGAINST poverty and FOR education.
32 You'll be helping children get an education, and their families get out of poverty. (the last sentence)
To conclude, by using "you - an involvement device" in appeal letters, it is meant to add more involvement with readers
and then solicit responses from them. In addition, assuming that the writer and the reader have the same or very similar
beliefs and values, the appeal letters set out to influence conduct in a very specific way - "relational closing"; that is, to
get responses from readers to send in a contribution.
5. Conclusion
Based on those two appeal letters in Hong Kong, the findings appear to reveal that there is a hybrid form of promotional
genre in philanthropic discourse, according to Bhatia’s (1998) generic patterns in fund-raising discourse framework.
There are similar structural moves of advertising, although the move sequences could vary according to different texts.
However, the move of “introducing the cause’ is always found at the very beginning because readers are more
interested to realise what the main theme of the appeal letter is. In addition, appeal letters are found to be modelled in
promotional genre, in which they are promotional strategies of attracting attention from readers – using “you” and
marked devices of attention getters. The findings in this study appear to be in line with the argument that promotional
concerns have influenced the nature of philanthropic discourse. Finally, the data collection is limited to only two appeal
letters from two organisations; however, this study can be treated as an exploratory one to investigate how the appeal
letters can be modelled in promotional genre.
References
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analysing genre: language use in professional settings. London: Longman.
Bhatia, V. K., (1997). Genre-mixing in academic introductions, English for Specific Purposes, 16, 3, 181-196.
Bhatia, V. K. (1998). Generic patterns in fundraising discourse, New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising. 22, 95–
110.
Bhatia, V.K. (2004). Worlds of written discourse: A genre-based view, London and New York: Continuum.
Bhatia, V.K. (2008). Genre analysis, ESP and professional practice’, English for Specific Purposes 27, 161-74.
Bhatia, V.K. (2010). Interdiscursivity in professional communication’, Discourse and Communication, 4/1, 32-50.
Clarke, S. & Norton, M. (1997). The complete fundraising handbook. London: Directory of social change.
Fairclough, N. (1993). Critical discourse analysis and the marketisation of public discourse: The universities. Discourse
and Society. 4 (2): 133-68.
Featherstone, M. (2007). Consumer culture and postmodernism. London: Sage.
Mann, W. & Thompson, S. (1992). Discourse description: Diverse linguistic analyses of a fund-raising text.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Rotzoll, K. B., Haefner, J. E., & Sandage, C. H. (1986). Advertising in contemporary society. West Chicago, IL: South-
Western Publishing Company.
Smith, G. (1996). Asking properly: The art of creative metaphor. San Diego: Academic Press.
Tannen, D. (1989). Talking voices: Repetition, dialogue and imagery in conversational discourse. New York:
Cambridge University Press
Tannen, D. (2005). Conversational style: Analyzing talk among friends. New York: Oxford University Press.
Weinstein, S. (2009). The complete guide to fundraising management. N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
Wharton, C. (2015). Advertising: Critical approaches. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Developing Students’ EFL Writing Skills by Enhancing their

Oral Interactions
Muhammad Al-Roomy
College of Science and Health Professions, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs,
P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh 11426, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between composition exercises and oral interaction amongst
Saudi university students while working in groups, with a particular focus on the methods that develop writing skills.
The participants, 50 in all, were Saudi university EFL first year students belonging to three different groups according
to their English proficiency. The data came from two research instruments: 1) written responses to open-ended
questions regarding students’ experiences and attitudes towards writing, and 2) transcripts of audiotaped interactions
between students. The findings suggested that integrating writing and oral interaction enabled students to realize the
way writing works, and that there are, in the first place, many different strategies available to aid in the process of
composition. Students were able to look at the process of writing more comprehensively rather than focusing on
particular points of grammar, spelling, or punctuation. In addition to this, by building on the structure of group work,
students acquired interpersonal skills vital for learning: listening, speaking, personal organization, and providing
constructive feedback. Teachers should note some problems associated with oral discussions, including the quality of
discussion, the time consumed in talking, and intermittent lapses into the mother tongue. This study concludes with
some implications for pedagogy and further study.
Keywords: Writing skills; oral interactions; group work
1. Introduction
Writing is a complicated skill of language which requires much effort and practice from students, plus systematic
instruction (Myles, 2002). In the writing process, the writer engages in "a two-way interaction between continuously
developing knowledge and continuously developing text" (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987, p. 12). Writing is a
recursive activity in which the writer goes back and forth through different stages to produce a written text (Hedge,
1988).
Teaching writing in ESL settings has increasingly become a focus of attention for researchers (Craig, 2012, Lee, 2003,
Evans et al. 2015). It is seen as integral to achieving communicative competence for any learner acquiring any
language. According to Myles and Mitchell (2004), communicative competence has been widely recognized as the
ultimate goal of second-language learning since 1970. It is specifically more important in academic settings where
students’ performance is assessed through written exercises: quizzes, tests, assignments, and projects. Besides, it is
essential for students who want to pursue their studies in English-speaking countries, or participate in academic
conferences and publish their works. Professional writing is needed by employees writing job reports or formal letters
to their supervisors. However, writing ability is most commonly learned in more formal instructional settings where
teachers take students gradually from the easy to the difficult, exposing them to several integrated skills. As walking
precedes running, students cannot learn how to write a paragraph without first knowing how to compose a sentence.
Students should be equipped with the tools they need to become part of the written world (Standish, 2005).
The integration of different language skills underlies the communicative language teaching approach, which emphasizes
meaningful interaction among learners as a way to learn the target language in a more natural way (Richards and
Rodger, 2003).
Research confirms the efficacy of integrating writing with other language skills. For example, on the one hand, many
researchers observed the close relationship between writing and reading, and recommend the integration of the two
while teaching (Krashen, 2004, Spack, 1998). On the other hand, although writing and speech are different in many
aspects, speech can facilitate writing in several ways (Elbow, 2012). Elbow suggests that the process of reading aloud
can improve writing when the writer reads sentences aloud several times, until they sound good in the mouth and the
ear. Although print and speech both convey information, writing notably lacks contextual clues. In oral communication,
verbal and nonverbal communications combine to get the message across (Bruning and Horn, 2000). For this reason,
Mercer and Dawes (2008) point out the importance of oral interaction in the classroom amongst students who work
together.
IJALEL 5(5):24-31, 2016 25
In first language acquisition, Kroll (1981) discusses the interrelation of speech and writing, and asserts that the full
benefit to the teaching of writing cannot be achieved unless we recognize the four phases of relationship between oral
and written language. These phases are: preparation, in which children learn the basic skills of handwriting and spelling;
consolidation, in which they learn how to write as they speak, expressing themselves and talking about what they
already know; differentiation, grasping the differences between speech and writing and the distinctive features of each;
and integration, or learning to systematically control both oral and written language, and producing better writing by
focusing on the audience and the purpose of writing. Kroll (1981) asserts a strong relationship between writing
proficiency and speaking proficiency in both L1 and L2. In contrast, Krashen and Terrell (1995) argue that when
second-language-learners interact in meaningful tasks, they are able to comprehend language that’s a step above their
level, and thus progress with their language development.
Some students learning English as a second or foreign language are better speakers than writers, while others are better
writers. In this study, students are presumed to be better speakers than writers of English because they come from a
tradition which gives more privilege to oral skills over written skills as a cultural inheritance (Shannon, 2003, Javid and
Khairi, 2011). The way they communicate in spoken English can empower them to communicate in writing. Weissberg
(2006) points out that L2 writing instruction should introduce spoken and written language to students in a balanced
way to encourage students to use their strengths in one area to support their weaknesses in another.
2. Literature review
2.1 Models of writing instruction in L1 and L2
There are many approaches to teaching academic writing in different contexts. Jordan (1997, 164), explains,
“Sometimes these depend upon underlying philosophy, sometimes upon the starting point of the students, sometimes
upon the purpose and type of writing and sometimes simply on personal preferences.”
Writing instruction to students in L2 settings has historically gone through different phases. In 1980, much of the
teaching practices of L2 writing pedagogy were based on L1 writing research despite a variety of profound strategic,
rhetorical, and linguistic differences between the two (Silva, 1993, Hinkel, 2006). According to Marco (2005), fewer
EFL studies focused on writing than on other language skills such as reading, listening, and speaking, because
communicative approaches to language learning give priority to oral communication over written communication. Reid
(1993) adds that as late as the 1970s, writing was not considered a separate skill like listening, speaking and reading but
rather a support skill in language learning. Reid (1993) points out that the teaching of L2 writing has had three main
approaches. First, in the 1970s, the “product approach” was dominant, where the focus was on building grammatically
well-formed sentences by students in imitation of models provided by teachers. Second, in the 1980s, there was a shift
to a new process called “process approach” where students were guided rather than controlled in the process of writing
by using various writing skills such as planning, reviewing, and writing drafts. Barnett (1989) advises teachers to view
writing as a process by allowing students to be more involved in editing their own work. Barnett maintains that making
writing a student-centered learning approach is beneficial both to teachers and students because it can improve writing
skills, increase students’ motivation, and saves grading time. Flower and Hayes (1981) went a step further, claiming
that students need to be involved on a higher level of thinking about the various cognitive processes that support
writing. Flower and Hayes substantiate that the focus on pre-, during-, and post-writing stages describes physical
processes in writing but does not really help in revealing the strategies and methods used by students to fulfill written
tasks. For this reason, it is essential to integrate the process approach with the product approach to allow students to
know the target of the written text after their involvement in the writing processes (Jordan, 1997).
Now in the twenty-first century, writing has come to be viewed as a communicative social act which combines both
teacher-centered and student-centered approaches to teaching academic writing. In this approach, writing takes a step
further to include the social act besides the linguistic and cognitive acts (Santose, 2010). Many researchers observe the
value of social interaction in the L2 writing classroom as a phenomenon that can be used to improve the quality of
writing among students (Weissberg, 2006).
2.2 Collaborative learning and writing
Collaborative learning is considered an effective learning method which promotes active learning, critical thinking, a
high level of student satisfaction, and long-term retention of classroom materials (Johnson and Johnson, 1989, Nunan,
1999,). Dillenbourg (1999, p1) defines collaborative leaning in its broadest sense as “a situation in which two or more
people learn or attempt to learn something together”.
Collaborative writing is one type of collaborative learning. Classroom community is essential for this approach when
judging students’ writings because they need to work collaboratively under the guidance of teacher to evaluate each
other’s work. Bruffee (1984) highlights that collaborative writing enables students to produce better texts than working
alone. Harmer (2014) observes the benefit of writing as a cooperative activity for students that can motivate students
and deepen their learning. When students are involved in the process of writing by working together, they can generate
more ideas and come up with new solutions for writing problems. As collaborative work is seen as useful in teaching
writing, the integration of writing with other language skills to improve writing ability is beneficial as well. Research on
collaborative writing has shown positive findings in both L1 and L2 settings. For example, collaborative writing enables
learners to receiving immediate feedback on the language and to be involved in different aspects of writing (Storch,
2005), allows students to gain shared knowledge and employ writing and social skills that foster a sense of
IJALEL 5(5):24-31, 2016 26
accountability (Lin and Marrof, 2013), and helps students gain greater control over their writing (Bush and Zuidema,
2013).
2.3 Studies on writing
Writing is especially challenging to Saudi students because they encountered many problems when completing different
writing tasks in the different levels of their studies (Jahin and Idrees, 2012), (Javid and Umer, 2014). Al-Khairy (2013)
laments that undergraduate English majors in Saudi universities are weak in writing skills and cannot construct a simple
sentence without committing basic errors.
Although students know different writing strategies, they are often handicapped it comes to implementing them.
In the Saudi context, Faqeeh (2014) used two reading tests to examine the effects of journal writing and reading
comprehension practice on improving the academic writing of EFL university students. The results revealed no
significant difference between the two instructional techniques on students’ writing performance. Al Asmari (2013)
investigated the use of writing strategies to reduce writing apprehension, thereby improving writing achievement,
among EFL major students. The study concluded that students who implemented more writing strategies were less
anxious and therefore did better in writing, and those using fewer strategies were more anxious and were worse writers.
Aljafen (2013) did a similar study, to identify the causes of writing anxiety among university students majoring in
science. The study concluded that students’ anxieties were rooted in their previous personal experiences, although they
blamed it chiefly on deficiencies in their past English education, also citing a personal lack of confidence in writing and
fear of teachers’ negative evaluation. The role of affective factors such as attitudes and motivation and their relevance to
proficiency was ascertained by Jahin and Idrees (2012), who observed that despite positive attitudes toward English as a
foreign language, students had low proficiency in writing and low overall English language proficiency. They also
discovered a significant correlation between students’ writing proficiency and their overall English language
proficiency. Mahmoud and Mahmoud (2014) examined how group work developed the writing skills of Saudi
university students, leading them to score higher on post-writing tests than on pretests. Rajab (2013) is among the few
studies of students’ speaking and writing skills being improved by learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
The findings showed that phonological awareness of the written symbols enables students to pronounce and spell words
well, and to write better. McMullen (2009) focused on the effects of strategy based instruction (SBI) on improving
students’ writing skills. Students worked as independent learners by using varied language learning strategies. The
study concluded that students were able to improve the organization, coherence and mechanics of their writing through
the explicit and implicit use of strategies.
In international settings, there have been many studies on the improvement of writing ability in classrooms. For
instance, Standish (2005) conducted a comparative investigation on the effects of collaborative reading and direct
instruction on sixth-grade students’ persuasive writing skills and general attitudes toward writing tasks. Students were
divided into three groups with differing levels of engagement, and the first group showed that a positive attitude led to
better writing when learners were more engaged than in the other two, less engaged, groups. Landstrom and Baker
(2009) considered the possible effect of peer review on students’ writing, and found that students who gave peer
reviews to others made more significant gains in writing ability than those who only received peer feedback. In another
study, Khabiri and Marashi (2016) planned a course to teach proposal writing collaboratively to graduate students.
Results indicated that collaborative work improved students’ writing, increased their motivation to write and helped
them to see the benefits of working collaboratively as well as competitively.
This brief survey of extant research hints at the variety of possible investigations into student writing, the causes of
problems, and the many ways to increase students’ writing proficiency. However, the body of research does not include
a single investigation of improving writing through oral interactions. The aim of this study is to explore how oral
interactions can improve students’ writing skills.
4. The study
4.1 Statement of the problem
Like other aspects of teaching, writing can be problematic for students and it affects their educational outcomes. Of the
four language skills reading, writing, listening, and speaking, writing is last and least: the last one to be mastered and
the skill students can least practice outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, specifically at the university level,
students learn rules of grammar and can produce many well-formed sentences with correct spelling. Yet, students still
complain of making writing mistakes even at the sentence level. Most of these mistakes are related to the ability to
generate ideas, lack of using appropriate words and lack of coherence. This can be seen clearly when comparing
different types of writing tasks--descriptive, narrative, discursive--which are assessed differently by teachers. Teaching
writing strategies is a great help in improving students’ writing skills and their ability to handle writing difficulties
(Graham and Perin, 2007). Teachers seldom dwell on writing instruction and much of their time is spent marking papers
and proofreading students’ written assignments. There is frequently greater emphasis on correcting mistakes than on
providing students with strategies for improvement. This can lead to negative attitudes toward writing (Dvorak, 1986)
and also leads to writing anxiety, because in this manner teachers come to be seen as givers of negative feedback
(Barnett, 1992).
IJALEL 5(5):24-31, 2016 27
4.2 Participants
The participants of this study were fifty men from a Saudi university enrolled in an orientation year in medicine. The
study divides them into three groups by English proficiency level, according to their scores on a university English
placement test.
4.3 Research question
The intended study answers two questions:
1. What are students’ experiences and attitudes toward English writing?
2. How can oral interaction improve their writing skills?
4.4 Data collection and analysis

Data were collected based on two research methods. The first is a written survey consisting of open-ended questions
developed by the researcher, to elicit a detailed picture of students’ writing in English. Open-ended queries invite fuller
answers about students’ writing habits and their attitudes toward writing. Certain themes are prevalent in the responses:
previous writing experiences, feelings toward writing failure, and the students’ writing skills and strategies. The second
data collection came from transcriptions of ten lessons which were audiotaped. Analysis revealed the ways students
used verbal interactions to complete the writing tasks and which writing strategies they often used. For data analysis,
the open-ended written responses were categorized by the prevailing themes that emerged from the students’
interactions; the three categories of themes used were cognitive, linguistic, and social acts, as used by Santos (2010).
4.5 Tasks and procedures
Students were trained to view writing as a three-stage process (before or pre-writing, during writing, and after or post-
writing stages) focusing on the social communicative act when working together. The teacher assigned a topic for the
students to write about, and encouraged the whole class to spark new ideas through brainstorming, and to share their
experiences about the topic. After that, Students worked individually for two or three minutes on the given topic. Then
students worked in groups of five to prepare outlines of a plan for writing. They assigned a group leader to run the
discussion and report the answers. Students completed the first draft after class and handed it in to the teacher, who
returned the first draft in the next class. For the second draft, students sat together and discussed the teacher’s feedback
and looked for ways to correct their mistakes. Finally, students worked on the final draft at home before submitting it to
the teacher. During the group discussion, the teacher quietly walked around the groups, monitoring how the students
interacted and providing any needed help and guidance.
5. Results and discussion
This study seeks to find the effect of oral interaction on improving writing skills. To find supporting details, the
classroom observations were triangulated with the written questions prior to the study. The findings were also compared
to relevant literature to find supporting or disconfirming evidence. The main research findings follow, in the analyses of
open-ended questions and oral interaction.
5.1 Analyzing responses to open-ended questions
The following account gives an answer to the first research question: What are students’ attitudes toward English
writing?
Students expressed different views regarding their writing experiences before enrolling in the college. The majority
claimed limited experience in English writing. Therefore, they saw writing as a very difficult skill to master, but they
held simplistic or naïve beliefs about learning it. For example, all students defined writing as knowing grammatical
rules or knowing how to spell words; none of their responses referred to writing as a complex process which
incorporates many skills and strategies. Perhaps the respondents mentally defining writing as nothing more than the
methods their teachers had used to teach writing, i.e., learning to string together grammatical sentences spelled
correctly. One student responded, “my experience about English writing was mainly related to academic writing at
schools. I have to write grammatical sentences and correct spelling.” This indicated that students were not much
interested in learning any more than necessary about writing, or using it for other purposes such as personal interests. A
few students were in the habit of writing short English sentences via social media like Twitter and Facebook to
communicate informally.
Their stories of previous writing experience corroborated what they said about their motivation to write in English.
While they stated that writing was important for them to express themselves or get a better job, and they needed it badly
for their studies, they all agreed that getting high marks was the only motivation to write in English. This was
influenced by fear from some students that if they did not write well they would be unable to pass their examinations
and pursue their studies as medical students. One student cited future examinations as his sole reason for learning: “my
study force me to write in English and everything will be assessed based on my writing especially in the final exam.”
Evidently their competitive academic environment deprived students of seeing the value of writing outside of school, or
seeing writing as something worthwhile per se. Students would be involved in writing only to get a reward. Without a
clear academic payoff, students would not be engaged in the process of writing. Such replies suggest that students lack a
truly intrinsic motivation to write.
IJALEL 5(5):24-31, 2016 28
Students were able to identify their feelings about writing difficulties, and used words such as “sad,” “frustrated,”
“depressed,” and “worried” to describe their inner turmoil. For example, one student wrote, “I feel frustrated when I
keep trying to organize my ideas because I know a lot but I cannot express that in writing”. Another frustrated student
seemed to have given up hope: “actually I do not see the value of studying English here as a school subject; the only
way to improve my English skills is by travelling abroad.” This sentiment is typical among students who failed to solve
writing problems. The English level of students in general might be an important factor affecting the way they feel. This
can be seen in one answer “my English is not good. I need to improve my English before writing.” This specific result
is supported by other studies in the area especially in the Saudi context (Aljafen, 2013, Jahin and Idrees, 2012).
There was clearly a shortage of useful problem-solving strategies for writers. Students reported that when they
encounter writing difficulties, “I search the net,” “I ask my friends or one member of my family,” “I ask the teacher but
not always,” or “I ask my classmates.” Being corrected in front of the class carries a heavy stigma; students would
much prefer to see their mistakes written on papers rather than serving as a public example. The idea that students are
willing to ask others for help and the fear of being corrected in front of the whole class relates to one important
characteristic of working in groups. Working collaboratively could be the key for such students who are willing to ask
questions but wish to avoid embarrassment, because it gives students an opportunity to learn from each other and to
work at their own pace in a relaxed mode. One possible reason students lack good strategies is overreliance on poor
ones. This was most clearly stated by one student who described his greatest strength and weakness in writing: “I use
Google Translator when I am stuck; I write sentences in Arabic to be translated into English.” Another student followed
an age-old method: “I use my dictionary to look up difficult vocabulary or check spelling.”
Students’ answers indicated many problems in writing compositions and a general ambivalence toward writing. Some
of these problems were solved and others were not. Students were also uncertain of the best writing strategies to be
employed or how to utilize other language skills to improve their writing abilities.
5.2 Analyzing students’ group work oral interaction
This is an account of the second research question, “How can oral interaction improve students’ writing skills?”
To answer this question, oral interactions were discussed according to instances of learning bearing in mind the
cognitive, linguistic and social acts of writing (Santos, 2010).
First, oral discussions improved students’ writing skills in several ways. The following excerpt is an example of how
students interacted while generating ideas about a specific medical topic:
S1: What do you think? Shall we start with reasons and then treatment?
S2: Better to define it first, and then give three reasons and treatment.
S1: Can we make the topic more specific?
S2: How, hypertension with smokers. Smokers get tired quickly, look at smokers.
S1: Yes, and they have severe headache.
This excerpt clearly shows how two students helped one another to find the best way to start the topic. When S1
suggested a way that seemed good to him, S2 partially disagreed with him and recommended starting by defining the
health problem first. Then S2 proposed narrowing the focus of the topic to make it more tractable, and gave an example
for that. Moreover, S2 drew on his experience with the learned material, which turned the discussion to in a more active
direction. When students were given enough time to examine ideas, they discovered better ways of presenting the topic
by the way they organized it and by connecting their experiences with the existing literature. This confirms the
assertion by Harmer (2014) and Storch (2005) that collaborative writing can provide substantial advantages to students
while they move through the writing process.
The preceding example illustrates how two students tackled broad organizational aspects of writing. The next example
shows students working out problems related to the specific details of grammar and word choice.
S1: Why the teacher [sic.] underlined this word?
S2: Because you cannot use “but” here.
S1: Why? The sentence is grammatical.
S2: “But” means to show something different while [sic.]. You have to use “however” to add information and tell about
something unexpected.
The transcripts showed that students spent more time when negotiating meaning and less time dealing with grammatical
and textual mistakes. That was not surprising because the latter areas were more mechanical: spelling, grammar, and
punctuation. Besides, teachers usually do not give exhaustive feedback related to ideas on students’ papers. Typical
comments in the margins are “not clear” or “rewrite the sentence.” This is similar to the condition described by Zamel
(1985), who found that ESL teachers misread students’ pieces of writing and provide vague, unhelpful comments.
Collaborative review enables students to develop their writing and to broaden their perception of writing beyond mere
knowledge of grammar and spelling such as they reported in the interviews. However, group work discussion is time-
IJALEL 5(5):24-31, 2016 29
consuming (Harmer, 2014). Students spent a long time discussing things and generating ideas. It is preferable that
teachers ask students to prepare at home for the new topic and come to class with some starting ideas already
developed.
Third, with regard to the quality of students’ talk, I observed that when students came to discuss things related to their
ideas, some of their discussions became unproductive. According to Mercer and Dawes (2008), exploratory talk is the
best for learning outcomes where students engage critically and constructively to articulate their ideas and reflect on
them. Mercer and Dawes classify talk into three types: 1) disputational talk in which short answers are given
uncritically, 2) cumulative talk in which ideas built on each other’s talk but in a critical way, and 3) exploratory talk in
which ideas are shared critically and constructively. The first and second types are considered unproductive whereas the
third is regarded as productive and helpful in critical reasoning (Mercer and Dawes, 2008).
Fourth, the transcript data showed that students tend to hold their conversations in Arabic, which was helpful for
translation and definition of words, as well as being the language in which they can best express themselves and avoid
misunderstanding. But thinking in Arabic and then translating to written English is problematic. The following shows a
problem arising from overuse of “and” in discussing the bad effects of using electronic devices:
S1: Electronic devices are indispensable.
S2: Yes, but what about the bad effects?
S3: It can affect human health, and our memories, and lead to addiction, and cause fire……… (said in Arabic).
N.B. In Arabic it is very common to use the coordinate conjunction “and” to produce longer sentences while in English
it looks like rambling. The problem of translation became evident when some students wrote this sentence in the outline
sheet in one English sentence bristling with “ands.”
Another benefit of group discussion in a relaxed environment was that students improved another skill beyond writing.
They improved their interactional competence, described by Tikunoff (1985) as the need of students to learn particular
patterns while interacting. This confirms earlier findings that students’ writing anxiety might spring from insufficient
strategies or the fear of negative evaluation from teachers (Al Asmari, 2013, Aljafen, 2013).
While working in groups, students provided one another with good feedback, which included more than just stating
their answers. They suggested different writing strategies to deal with the written tasks. Ur (2003, p.110) defines two
kinds of feedback:
In assessment, the learner is simply informed how well or badly he or she has performed. In correction, some
specific information is provided on aspects of the learner’s performance: through explanation or through
elicitation of these from the learner.
The second type, correction, is more effective and positive because students can learn from it.
S1: You said, “Electronic devices cause fire”; is it correct?
S2: Yes, that is right.
S1: How I could [sic.] know, can you give me an example?
S1: Because you should handle properly while charging.
S3: Or if you use bad battery also.
In this excerpt, it is clear that students had multiple opportunities for feedback. They also received justifications for
evaluating their work in such a manner.
This excerpt shows two characteristics of good feedback, starting with S1 asking a very specific question. S2’s feedback
was constructive because S2 offered two supporting examples. Group work enabled students to develop interpersonal
skills such as listening, speaking, organization, empathy, providing constructive feedback.
6. Conclusion and implications for pedagogy
The results of this study have shed some light on the impact of incorporating oral group interactions into writing
instruction among Saudi university students.
The findings of the written questions before the intervention indicate that students’ experiences in writing were limited
and they regarded writing as a school subject, almost a necessary evil. The teaching practices of writing classes at their
schools had been cumbersome, as can be seen in the way they define writing and deal with writing problems. Also,
students’ motivation to write was extrinsic because they engage in writing activity solely to get a good grade. Although
students indicated that they implemented different strategies to write, they lacked some important strategies needed for
writing. Results gained from collaborative writing revealed that working in groups allowed students not only to learn
from their mistakes, but also to benefit from the mistakes of others, by avoiding such mistakes themselves. It also
allowed students to evaluate their own production and progress by learning more writing strategies. By building on the
structure of group work, students were able to learn interactional skills beyond their writing skills, which are important
for effective language learning and lifelong learning.
IJALEL 5(5):24-31, 2016 30
Nevertheless, the integration of oral interactions with writing is not without its problems. Training students to work
together and benefit from oral interactions is a long-term process that requires time and effort from both teachers and
students. Finally, because of the limitations of the results, further research is needed to investigate the efficacy of oral
discussions in enhancing students’ writing skills in ESL/EFL contexts. Researchers might start by using larger samples
with different groups at different academic levels, and integrate writing with different language skills mainly speaking.
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Evidentiality, Epistemic Modality, and Epistemic Status

Rezeda Dilshatovna Shakirova (Corresponding author)
Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical University, 28, Nizametdinov Street, Naberezhnye Chelny, the Republic of Tatarstan, 423806, Russia
Guzel Abelkhasanovna Sadrieva

Adelina Renatovna Safina

Inga Gennadyevna Almikaeva

Alsu Flerovna Galimullina


Abstract
The article discusses the interaction of evidentiality categories, typical of many Turkic, Finno-Ugric, Samoyed, certain
Slavic, and other languages with the categories of epistemic modality, which is widely represented particularly in
Germanic languages. The methodological framework of this study consists of the general philosophic, general scientific
and private levels. The general philosophic methodology is based on the analytic philosophy, under the linguistic trend
of which the language study was carried out to solve philosophic problems. The general scientific methodological bases
of the study are related to the principle of identifying similarities and differences of the categories analyzed and the
systematicity of description, whereas the descriptive method and techniques thereof are used primarily as the private-
linguistic methods. In contrast to evidentiality, indicating the source of information, the epistemic modality marks
different level of the information reliability. In the modern German language, the categories studied have a zone of
intersection in terms of community within the means of expression, to which modal words and modal verbs as well as
the verb scheinen can be primarily related. However, in the modern German language, there is no question of the
category of evidentiality in the plane, within which it is currently being studied basing on the material of those
languages, to the fragment of the grammatical system of which it is primarily inherent. As a rule, the semantics of
evidentiality in these languages provides no information on the degree of reliability of the source of knowledge. To
overcome the contradiction of such nature, this work suggests paying attention to the category of epistemic status of an
utterance, the semantic structure of which is wider than evidentiality and epistemic modality and includes the level of
reliability of the source of knowledge along with the designation thereof. In today's German language, there are units
functioning that mark simultaneously both parameters of the situation, on which an utterance is based.
Keywords: evidentiality, epistemic modality, epistemic status, German language, degree of reliability, source of
information
1. Introduction
In recent decades, the researchers pay more and more attention to the fact that the problem of opinion and knowledge,
having a long history of studies in philosophy and logic, becomes urgent in linguistics as well. Anna Zaliznyak
(Zaliznyak, 2006) notes, for example, the growth of scholarly attention to this problem. I.B. Shatunovskii (Shatunovskii,
1996) argues that the problem of opinion, knowledge and belief relates less to the philosophic and ontological issue than
to the linguistic one (at least by 90%).
An increasing interest of linguistics in the problem of opinion and knowledge, which occupies a central place in the
theory of cognition, is associated with the change of scientific paradigm (Kuhn, 1975) in linguistics. We are talking
about the formation and the intensive development of a new, anthropocentric, scientific paradigm in linguistics, which
brings into focus a native speaker, whereas the factor of a human in language becomes crucial therefor. Cognitive
linguistics is one of the main trends emerging within this paradigm. It studies the mental processes related to the
cognition of reality. This article aims to identify the common ground of such concepts as evidentiality, epistemic
modality and epistemic status of an utterance that are of direct relevance to the language as a mental phenomenon.
IJALEL 5(5):32-38, 2016 33
The term "evidentiality" is widespread in Russian linguistics due to the work by R.O. Jacobson "Shifters, verbal
categories and the Russian verb" (1972). Following his ideas, the quality of being attested is a verbal category, which
takes into account a reported fact, a fact of message, and the transmissibility of a message fact, in other words, an
indication of the source of information on a reported fact. According to others, the evidentiality includes the values of
an explicit marking of the speaker’s source of information regarding the situation it notifies (Kozintseva, 2000).
Speaking of epistemic modality, it should be recognized that some scholars interpret it as a category associated with the
degree of probability of the information reported. The supporters of this approach include V.S. Khrakovsky (2007), who
defines the epistemic modality as the speaker’s assessment of the degree of probability of the fact given.
Regarding the term "epistemic status", we should note that its introduction into the scientific usage associates with the
name of J. Lyons (2003), who uses it for marking a subjective qualification of the speaker’s attitude to the verity of a
proposition.
The discussion on the correct way of using the expression "I know" launched by the representatives of analytical
philosophy, in particular by G.E. Moore (1959), L. Wittgenstein (1969-1975), and N. Malcolm (1977), contributed to
the identification of statements, with which this expression cannot be used due to the redundancy of the information
underlying these statements. M.A. Dmitrovsky (1988), E.S. Yakovleva (1994), and others subsequently summarized
such statements. Thus, studying the model of space, time and perception allowed E.S. Yakovleva (1994) to reveal that,
depending on the nature and degree of the subject matter of speech awareness, a speaker can impart expression with an
objective or subjective epistemic characteristic.
2. Method
The methodological framework of this study includes three levels: general philosophic, general scientific, and private.
Analytic philosophy acts as a general philosophic methodology, within the framework of the linguistic trend of which
the issue of reliability, and namely of the reliability of knowledge, was widely discussed. The general scientific
methodological basis of the study are backed by the principle of identifying similarities and differences of the categories
analyzed and the systematicity of the material description. With regard to the private-linguistic methods, the present
study was carried out primarily within the framework of the descriptive method and the techniques or devices thereof,
the purpose of which is to establish the facts and phenomena of one language, in this case of the modern German
language. The descriptive method devices may include observation, generalization, interpretation, and classification.
We performed observation, the task of which is to describe the features of the language units functioning, from the
standpoint of applying the analyzed means in a particular communicative context using the resource of a literary text.
Therefore, we can talk also about the use of the contextual analysis technique. Moreover, during the collection and
analysis of the illustrative material, we used the method of continuous sampling to obtain valid and reliable results. The
interpretation of the obtained language units functioning results, in this case of the modal words, modal verbs and
conjunctive of indirect speech, allowed us to treat them in a new light and to allocate the category of epistemic status by
means of generalization. We also applied the descriptive method to systematically describe and discuss the theoretical
material. In studying the plan of the epistemic status category expression, in some cases a method of component-
semantic analysis was used.
3. Results
In linguistic literature, the question about the correlation of evidentiality and epistemic modality categories is raised,
during the discussion of which researchers fail to concur with each other. Due to the fact that the reference to the
speaker’s source of knowledge does not provide information on the level of its reliability, N.A. Kozintseva (2000)
suggested considering them as separate categories. S.I. Burkova (2004) adheres to a similar opinion, which denies the
affiliation of evidentiality in the Nenets language to epistemic modality. From the author’s point of view, they correlate
only to one of the situation formats, expressed by a proposition (source of information), and do not explicate the
speaker’s assessment of the proposition verity.
V.A. Plungian (2000) represents an opposite point of view, which indicates the absence of grounds to declare
evidentiality being a simple subspecies of epistemic modality the same as to consider evidentiality and epistemic
modality as the non-related categories. According to the author, in the "detailed" systems the markers of the
evidentiality semantics have virtually no modal load as opposed to binary systems, in which any indirect information
proves to be less reliable.
We propose to combine the categories of evidentiality and epistemic modality within the category of epistemic status
that takes into account such parameters as the source of information, based on which an utterance is formulated, as well
as the measure of reliability of this information. It is therefore necessary to draw attention to the fact that in terms of the
cognitive activity, all utterances can be divided into the epistemically objective and the epistemically subjective ones. It
is the latter that meet the above-mentioned parameters. The plan of expressing this category in the German language
may include a conjunctive of indirect speech, modal words, modal verbs, and the verb scheinen.
4. Discussion
4.1 The concept of evidentiality
Proceeding to study the interactions of the categories we are interested in, we should first note that certain studies
widely discuss the question about the possibility of allocating one integrated category on the basis of two other
IJALEL 5(5):32-38, 2016 34
categories – evidentiality and epistemic modality. However, until now the status of these categories remains
controversial and requires a more detailed study. Each approach has both supporters and opponents.
To compare the category of evidentiality and epistemic status of utterance, we should definitely specify their semantic
potential. When it comes to semantics of utterances with evidential value, it is worth mentioning the opinion expressed
by N.A. Kozintseva (1994), for which it includes such parts as the frame (EV) and proposition (P): G reports that [X
saw/believes/got know that] P, where G – speaker, X – subject of EV modus ("owner" of information). At the same
time, information can be obtained due to: a) sensory perception, b) logical reasoning, c) messaging. The perceptual
perception, in turn, is divided into visual observation, auditory observation, and observation based on common
perceptions.
Linguistic literature also presents other, more fractional, classifications of information sources. Thus, for example, V.A.
Plungian (2000) contrasts the "direct" information (situation observed by the speaker) with the "indirect" information
(situation unobserved by the speaker). In addition to these sources, the "immediate" information (a possibility of the
speaker’s personal access to facts) and "intermediate" information (the absence of the speaker's personal access to facts)
are analyzed. At the same time, the direct information is immediately related to the speaker, while the indirect
information may be not only of personal, but also of intermediate nature. The further subdivision is associated with the
allocation among the direct visual sources of information (an optical observation of situation), sensory sources of
information (contemplation of situation with other senses), and "endophoric" sources of information (inner feelings of
the speaker). With regard to indirect sources of information, they include inferentives (reasoning the situation by its
results) and presumptives (reasoning the situation by logic considerations).
4.2 The concept of epistemic modality
Turning next to the term "epistemic" (from the Greek word "epistēmē" – knowledge), we should note that it came into
linguistics from logic, into which it was introduced due to expansion of the modality concept.
When interpreting the nature of epistemic modality, there are certain disagreements among linguists. Some researchers,
influenced by the modal-logic inquiries, associate the epistemic modality with the concepts of possibility and necessity.
In particular, F.R. Palmer (1979, 2001) presents such an approach in his works, for which a speaker expresses
assessment of the proposition reliability by means of epistemic modality.
Other researchers attempt to define the epistemic modality through the concepts of probability and reliability/verity.
Thus, T.A. Maisak and S.G. Tatevosov (2000) understand the category of epistemic modality as the one that associates
with the explication of the speaker’s point of view on the verity of a proposition, or, in other words, with the assessment
of probability of that the situation takes place in the actual world. According to the authors, the semantic domain of the
epistemic modality correlates with the scale, one of the extreme points of which indicates the probability of a situation
equal to unity – the situation described exists in the actual world. While the other one counts in favor of probability of a
situation equal to zero – the situation described does not exist in the actual world. The cases, when a speaker admits a
possibility of both alternatives with varying degrees of probability, occupy the gap.
In some studies, the nature of epistemic modality is interpreted through the prism of possible worlds. Thus, M. Willer
(2013) considers that a speaker uses utterances with semantics of epistemic modality to clarify a system of possible
worlds.
According to the Finnish linguist Mustajoki A. (2006), the epistemic modality associates with semantic elements that
indicate the speaker’s attitude to the reliability of situation. At the same time, one of the options proposed to classify
epistemic modality is the following scale: virtually absolute confidence (high degree of probability) – moderate
confidence (medium degree of probability) – almost complete lack of confidence (low degree of probability).
Considering such types of modality as agent-oriented, speaker-oriented, epistemic, and subordinating ones, J. Bybee et
al. (1994) associates the epistemic modality with the responsibility for the proposition reliability covering the values of
possibility, probability, and inferential confidence, which form the scale of author’s confidence in the reliability of
proposition in the direction from low to high degree of feature intensity.
4.3 The concept of epistemic status
As seen from the above mentioned arguments of linguists, pertaining to the semantic parameter of an utterance, the
category of evidentiality reflects the source of information, based on which an utterance is formulated, whereas the
epistemic modality speaks in terms of concepts of reliability, probability, necessity, and possibility. In light of these
judgments, it is hard to escape a conclusion that it is impossible to combine into one these categories due to the
mismatch in the plan of their contents, and that it is legible to raise such a question in general. However, it would be
naive to believe that the issue under discussion has an unambiguous solution. The essence of this problem consists in
that the categories of evidentiality and epistemic modality have a significant zone of intersection mainly in terms of
common means of expression, primarily the modal verbs and modal words in the Germanic languages. An utterance He
must be at home, on the one hand, indicates a logical consideration of speaker, and on the other hand – a high degree of
probability of the situation. In other words, in case of differences in the plans of contents of the categories of
evidentiality and epistemic modality, we can observe the coincidence in the plans of expression thereof, in particular in
the Germanic languages.
In order to overcome the differences of such nature, some works (Shakirova, 2009) develop a new approach to the
categories under study within the category of epistemic status.
IJALEL 5(5):32-38, 2016 35
The epistemic status takes into account two parameters of the situation, based on which an utterance is built – a source
of information and a degree of the speaker’s awareness, in other words, a degree of the information reliability. From the
perspective of epistemic status, any utterance can be either objective or subjective. In contrast to the epistemic
objectivity, when an utterance experiences redundancy of markers indicating the source of knowledge and its
probability due to the absolute reliability of its content, an utterance associated with epistemic subjectivity takes into
account both parameters of utterance. The utterances I hear a song; my heart hurts; Moscow is the capital of Russia;
22=4 are epistemically objective since the expression of any doubt regarding their reliability in the situations, that do
not have a particular pragmatic sense, is impermissible.
Being marked with an element of opposition, a subjective epistemic status of utterance correlates with such
phenomenon of objective reality, in relation to which not only the knowledge, but also a lack of knowledge or even a
speaker’s uncertainty as well as the clarification of the source of knowledge acquisition – "How do you know this?" or
"How do I know this?" – are equally possible (L. Wittgenstein, 1969-1975). L. Wittgenstein studied the utterances of
this kind, and later the Russian linguists M.A. Dmitrovskaya (1988), E.S. Yakovleva (1994), and others summarized
them. These are the three types of knowledge, based on which an utterance is formulated. Firstly, this includes an
immediate knowledge based on the sensory observation. An inferential knowledge obtained by logical reasoning
occupies an intermediate position between knowledge and ignorance. Finally, the last third type of the knowledge under
study is a "second-hand" knowledge acquired in the course of interpersonal communication. These types of knowledge
do not always contribute to acquiring complete and reliable picture of the objective reality so they are characterized by a
varying degree of reliability.
As we see, the concept of epistemic status of an utterance is wider than the concept of evidentiality and epistemic
modality since the structure of its content includes not only the indication of the source of information (though in both
cases one and the same types of information sources act as the study subject), but also the characteristics of the degree
of reliability of the knowledge acquired therewith. We can assume that this difference should find its confirmation in
the linguistic material. Therefore, let us proceed to the examination of linguistic means actualizing these values in the
modern German language.
4.4 Morphological means of expressing the category of epistemic status
It is well known that many languages possess morphological means of expressing the semantics of evidentiality. A
special non-obvious/retelling or paraphrasing mood pertains to the Turkic, Finno-Ugric, Samoyed, and other languages.
It is noteworthy that a retelling mood is based on the forms of perfect tense, which later form an individual mood. This
mood is used to denote an action, which was not witnessed by speaker and is an evidence of his uncertainty. We can
consider the formation of a retelling mood as a consequence of the evolution of perfect forms. With regard to the
modern German and other Germanic languages, we should note that until now the German perfect tense has not been
unambiguously interpreted. However, there are no studies of perfect tense from the perspective of its participation in the
category of evidentiality in Germanics.
Meanwhile, one cannot deny that in the modern German language the means of explicating semantics of evidentiality
are functioning. Thus, the units of evidentiality expression may include German conjunctive mood functioning in
indirect speech along with the indicative mood widely represented in many languages. Despite the fact that it still has
not reached such a level when it can serve as an independent means of marking "second-hand" knowledge, the cases of
conjunctive indirect speech in the form of independent sentences representing a "chain" that do not possess an
introducing verb of speech are well represented in the texts of fictional prose and journalism. Here is an example:
Indem Hanna zugab, den Bericht geschrieben zu haben, hatten die anderen Angeklagten leichtes Spiel. Hanna habe, wo
nicht allein gehandelt, die anderen bedrängt, bedroht, gezwungen. Sie habe das Kommando an sich gerissen. Sie habe
Feder und Wort geführt. Sie habe entschieden. (Once Hanna admitted having written the report, the other defendants
had an easy game to play. When Hanna had not been acting alone, they claimed, she had pressured, threatened, and
forced the others. She had seized command. She did the talking and the writing. She had made the decisions.)
Probably, this fact allowed B. Hansen (2007) to classify the indirect speech conjunctive to the evidentiality indicators.
However, in indirect speech two forms of conjunctive mood are used – present and preterite, which are synonyms
within the framework of paradigmatics. On the one hand, they refer to the units of morphological level; on the other
hand, they have the same composition of semes, namely secondariness of knowledge, indirectness of reproduction, and
detachment of speaker, on which the semes are overlapped indicating a temporal perspective of an utterance. However,
on the syntagmatic level, the paradigmatic synonymy is broken since the reproducer through various conjunctive forms
can mark different level of reliability of the foreign information. In general, the present conjunctive focuses on the
expression of a greater degree of confidence in the other's utterance, while the preterite conjunctive, on the contrary,
expresses a lesser degree. Conjunctive forms in indirect speech transmit different level of speaker’s detachment
depending on the degree of reliability of the information reproduced from the speaker's perspective. Therefore, we
include indirect speech conjunctive to the indicators of the epistemic status category.
Functioning of the present and preterite forms of conjunctive in indirect speech is connected with the necessity of
grading the level of reliability and speaker’s detachment from the utterances of a third person. The concept of
detachment is endowed with the feature of graduality, which leads to the functioning of two forms of conjunctive in the
modern German language and likewise supports the use of conjunctive along with indicative in indirect speech.
IJALEL 5(5):32-38, 2016 36
Choosing one of the conjunctive forms may be caused by the degree of reproducer’s respect to the "owner" of
information, his prior knowledge of the situation, which he compares with the reproducible facts. At discrepancy, he
prefers to distance himself by using preterite conjunctive in indirect speech.
Let us draw our attention to the fact that language can be attributed to the dissipative structure or a self-organizing
system, in other words, a system aimed at creating advanced structures. The term "dissipation" owes its introduction
into scientific usage to the theory of open systems, to the study of a particular type of dynamic states, dissipative self-
organizing structures associated with the spontaneous occurrence of "order out of disorder". The self-organization can
be attributed to the possible way of language evolution. Therefore, in the German language the parallel functioning of
the two moods in indirect speech can be adequately explained by the property of self-organization of the language
structure.
4.5 Lexical means of expressing the category of epistemic status
Modal words refer to another means that explicates the source of the information received. E. Hentschel и P. M. Vogel
(2009) following the Duden-Grammatik (2005) consider modal words only as indicators of the speaker's subjective
opinion. However, as the observation of linguistic material shows, such modal words as augenscheinlich, bekanntlich,
bestimmt, erwiesenermaßen, freilich, gewiss, keinesfalls, keineswegs, natürlich, offenkundig, selbstredend,
selbstverständlich, sichtlich, tatsächlich, unbedingt, wahrhaftig, wirklich, zweifellos, zweifelsfrei, zweifelsohne correlate
with the sensory perception of reality. Indicating the perceptive nature of the acquired knowledge, they mark a high
degree of reliability of this knowledge.
To illustrate, let us consider an example from the novel "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" by P. Süskind. By means of
a modal word bestimmt, the categorical reliability of the information obtained through direct eye contact is transmitted.
In this context, the channel of acquiring information mit eigenen Augen is specified along with the verb sehen. Only a
witness of the situation can "see with his own eyes", therefore, it is possible to argue that in this case the highest level of
reliability of the message is explicated: Grenouille fragte die Wache, welche Straße der Zweite Konsul genommen habe.
Der Posten wies nach Norden. Nicht die Straße nach Cabris? Oder die andere, die südlich nach Auribeau und La
Napoule führte? – Bestimmt nicht, sagte der Posten, er habe es mit eigenen Augen gesehen. (Grenouille asked the watch
which road the second consul had taken. The guard pointed north. Not the road to Cabris? Or the other one, that went
south toward Auribeau and La Napoule? Definitely not, said the guard, he had watched with his own eyes.).
Let us note that the verb scheinen functions in the modern German language, which explicates a poor quality knowledge
acquired on the basis of sensory cognition of the reality. In the situation of incomplete awareness, speaker experiences
difficulties in the perception that arises due to a "whim" of the channel of acquiring information, in other words, due to
the interference caused by the indistinct contours of the perceived object because of the synoptic (poor visibility, poor
audibility) factors or the human sensory systems defects (poor eyesight, impaired hearing, poor sensitivity, etc.) as well
as due to the significant distance of the observed object from the speaker. Thus, in the following example, the words bei
Nacht, im gleichen Licht des Mondes draw attention to poor visibility because of the darkness. These reasons make it
possible to interpret the information on the situation, obtained by means of optical observation, as an incomplete one,
and use the verb scheinen in the utterance: Und bei Nacht gar, im bleichen Licht des Mondes, schien sie in ihrer
gottverlassenen Öde nicht mehr von dieser Welt zu sein. (And by night, by the bleaching light of the moon, it was such
a godforsaken wilderness that it seemed not of this world.). The epistemic function of the verb scheinen consists in
marking an incomplete, from the speaker's point of view, information, that emerges as a result of sensory perception of
the objective reality.
Apart from the modal words that are appropriate in the situation of physical contact with the phenomenon described, the
modern German language distinguishes modal words that mark the semantics of the subjective epistemic status of the
utterances formulated as a result of intellectual activity: anscheinend, bestimmt, eventuell, höchstwahrscheinlich, kaum,
möglicherweise, offenbar, offensichtlich, scheinbar, schwerlich, sicher, vermutlich, vielleicht, wahrscheinlich, wohl.
Because these modal words indicate the inference nature of knowledge, they could be attributed to the evidential means.
However, they are differentiated by the degree of confidence expressed by the speaker in the probability of inferential
knowledge. Among the modal words, it is possible to distinguish those that convey a very high level of speaker’s
confidence in the probability of situation: höchstwahrscheinlich, bestimmt, offenbar, offensichtlich, sicher. The modal
words eventuell, möglicherweise, vermutlich, vielleicht, wohl indicate the further decrease in the level of speaker’s
confidence in the probability of inferential knowledge. The modal words kaum, schwerlich, scheinbar explicate the
lowest measure of the speaker’s confidence.
4.6 Lexical and grammatical means of expressing the category of epistemic status
The modal verbs in secondary function mark the inferential knowledge. In "Deutsche Grammatik" (2010), the meaning
of modal verbs is associated with the expression of assumption by speaker. The work "Compact grammar. German as a
foreign language for quick search" states that the verbs dürfen and können possess a meaning of assumption, the verb
müssen – of reasoning, the verb wollen – of doubt, while the verb sollen is used to transfer the meaning of hearing
(Funk H et al, 2010). To my mind, along with the indication of an accomplished act of the mental operation of
reasoning, the graduality of knowledge reliability is transmitted. As seen from the material studied, the modal verbs in
the function of assumption are differentiated according to the expressed thereby degree of speaker’s confidence in the
probability of inferential knowledge. Thus, the verb müssen explicates a very high degree of speaker's confidence,
which is substantiated in the accompanying communicative context. Such utterances can be transformed into complex
IJALEL 5(5):32-38, 2016 37
sentences with the subordinate clauses of reason. For example, the verb müssen can introduce the presupposed clause of
result due to the generalization of facts known to speaker from the living circumstances of the heroine from the novel
"The Reader" by B. Schlink, whom he knows personally. The reason for the probable exhaustion of the heroine is her
constant struggle. This can be confirmed by the transformation of an utterance into a complex sentence with subordinate
clause of reason, in which the principal clause results from the reasons given in the subordinate clause: Sie mußte völlig
erschöpft sein. Sie kämpfte nicht nur im Prozeß. Sie kämpfte immer und hatte immer gekämpft … (B. Schlink) → Sie
mußte völlig erschöpft sein, weil sie nicht nur im Prozeß kämpfte. Sie kämpfte immer und hatte immer gekämpft …
(She must have been completely exhausted. Her struggle was not limited to the trial. She was struggling, as she always
had struggled → She must have been completely exhausted because her struggle was not limited to the trial. She was
struggling, as she always had struggled.
The modal verbs können and mögen express a somewhat reduced level of the speaker's confidence. Moreover, the use
of the verb mögen allows the speaker to point out simultaneously two possible variants for the development of situation,
and by means of the verb können, he may consider an unlimited set of alternatives. The modal verb dürfen is
characterized by a low frequency of use and expresses an uncertain assumption of the speaker.
The means of expressing the semantics of evidentiality may include the construction of a modal verb sollen in its
secondary function, which implicitly refers to the "second-hand" knowledge, in other words, transmits someone else's
message: Kein Mensch konnte es fassen, daß der windige, kleine, geduckte Mann dort oben am Fenster, dieses
Würstchen, dieses armselige Häuflein, dieses Nichts, über zwei Dutzend Morde begangen haben sollte. (Not a soul
could comprehend how this short, paltry, stoop-shouldered man there at the window-this mediocrity, this miserable
nonentity, this cipher-could have committed more than two dozen murders (P. Süskind). However, in addition to
specifying the secondary nature of the information, the reproducer’s uncertainty in the reliability of information is
transmitted.
5. Conclusion
So, we could consider the lexical and grammatical units listed as a means of actualizing the semantics of evidentiality
and epistemic modality. However, on the one hand in addition to marking the source of knowledge, on the other hand
they transmit a different level of its reliability. Often, the units that in different ways explicate the reliability of
knowledge, based on which an utterance is formulated, function within the same linguistic level. Therefore, on the
modern German language material we can speak primarily about the epistemic status of an utterance. The epistemically
objective utterances do not provide information on the source of knowledge, by which they are supported, as well as on
the level of their reliability as opposed to the utterances of the status of epistemic subjectivity. In the latter case, the
utterances are based on the direct sensory perception, however subject to spatial and temporal detachment of the object
of observation, inferential or "second-hand" knowledge. In this case, the utterance marks a different degree of implicit
or explicit reliability. It is probably possible to distinguish a functional-semantic category of epistemic status, the plan
of content of which is associated with the speaker’s subjective assessment of the reliability of utterance, formulated as a
result of its sensory or intellectual activity, as well as of the "second-hand" knowledge. The present work examines the
main methods of explicating this category in the German language. The aim of further studies could be a complete
inventory of the plan of expressing this category in the German language as well as the study of the epistemic status
category on the material of other languages.
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The Taxonomy of the Functional and Structural Uses

of Adverbs in Business Letter Writing in English
Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan
English Language Teaching Unit, Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, Park Road, Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Abstract
This research analyses the types of the functional and structural uses of adverbs in letter writing in English revealing the
linguistic and non-linguistic implications in both teaching and learning in the South Asian countries like Sri Lanka. It
synthesizes, classifies and describes the types, functions, positions, quantity and quality and deviations. This is a case
study of the texts produced by the students from Tamil and Sinhala language communities of Vavuniya Campus of the
University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka. The analysis is both quantitative and qualitative. The findings distinguish the patterns
and pragmatic uses typical of a non-native ESL learning context. It finds out that structurally prepositional phrase and
single-word and functionally, time, place and manner dominate as adverbs in the use. The inefficient and ineffective use
of noun phrase, adverb particle, adverbial clause, and sentence adverb, the learner incompetence of the distinction
between adverb and the rest of the linguistic units, within their types and within their functions were identified and
suggests a curriculum design or teaching methodology to incorporate this distinction.
Keywords: adverb, adverbial phrase, structure, function, position
1. Introduction
English language users or learners use the adverbs in English in considerable numbers and functions without
understanding the deeper level implications and nuances. The use of adverbs shows the qualified or quantified
relationship with an action denoted by a verb or its equivalent. An adverb qualifies or quantifies an action in real life
situation or a use in terms of functions such as time, place and manner or process or a type. It increases or decreases the
effect and efficiency of the action referred in the verb of the sentence. Nouns, noun phrases, adverb particle,
prepositional phrases, adverb proper can form an adverb or adverbial phrase or adverbial function. They convey
syntactic, semantic and pragmatic or discourse or ideological functions. Without realizing the inherent distinctions or
taxonomic diversification, the learners and users handle adverbs which affects the teaching and learning of subjects
taught in English medium. If the types and functions are not contrastively understood and applied, they impede
competence and performance of the quantitative or qualitative modification, attribution of degree, number, and intensity
of an action in the form of a verb in produced written texts. Ironically, the use of adverbs or teaching and learning them
has been felt as a serious challenge to many teachers and learners and does not seem to pose many difficulties. Adverbs
are significant structural and functional elements in form and meaning and they are essential discourse devices so
complex and diverse in producing written texts. The roles of learning, teaching and using adverbs pose serious
challenges for the persons assuming these three roles separately or collectively in a triangular role relationship.
2. Need of the Study
The teachers, learners and users of English as a second language in Sri Lanka, like others in the non-native English
speaking countries use the adverbs in English writing without distinguishing different form and functional implications.
Sri Lankans realize the need for being proficient in their use in their intra-sentential and inter-sentential functions and
relations and denotations and connotations. Business letter writing is one of the key genres in training the business
English writing skills of the university students at the undergraduate level or Bachelor’s level (Gnanaseelan 2014).
Though the use of adverbs in English does not cause serious inhibitions in ‘fluent communication’ in English by the
natives of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese and Tamil, taking this feature as granted and do have this system in similar forms,
they continue to commit deviation structurally and functionally in their English discourse at the higher or complex level
of communication in real life. They fail to show the form and functional distinctions in English.
3. Theoretical Background
Syntactically the adverbs are positioned in front of, in the middle and at the end of a sentence. The front position is
adverbial fronting (Hewings, 2005). It can function as sentence adverb. It shows relation to a previous sentence or an
emphasis. They are the most flexible units in the English language to be used anywhere- rule bound or rule free.
Adverbs can shift position, but which often causes problems for ESL students (Hernández, 2006). However, the
position after the main verb is generally considered as its usual position (Koffi, 2010). Literature texts, poetic or
prosaic, maximum make use of this freedom and flexibility to communicate ideas and feelings so powerfully, efficiently
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 40
and effectively. However, at the beginners’ level, students can learn ‘traditional default positions for adverbs’ at the
same time, learning ‘the rhetorical emphasis of adverb repositioning’ gradually (Dissosway & Hartford, 1984). Zi-hong
(2010) reminds the difficulty of capturing the rhetorical repositioning while learning or acquiring the syntactic positions
of adverbs in English. There was a study which found out that good educational background and social class (middle)
determine efficient use of adverb movement strategies more effectively compared to poor educational background and
lower class (Macaulay, 2002).
Adverbs are words always joining with verbs in order to modify them. They try to define the action in some way. In
addition their role is extended to ‘express degree and limit adjectives or other adverbs (Baskervill and Sewell, 1896:18
as cited in Nuhiu, 2014). Adverbs are verb roots or adjectives which are formed with an –ly suffix depending on the
situation (Eastwood, 1999:24 as cited in Nuhiu, 2014; Eckersley and Eckersley, 1960: 255 as cited in Al-Baghdadi
2003). They are parts of speech (Kabashi, 2000:20 as cited in Nuhiu, 2014). Adverbs are always connected with or
contrasted with, related to, and compared to adjectives. In addition, adverbs are looked at another way but this is not
possible with adjectives ending in (-ly). Alternative forms like "similar adverbs or adverb phrases" (Thomson and
Martinet, 1980: 55 as cited in Al-Baghdadi 2003) are used.
The role of the prefixes in the formulation of derived adverbs: a- as- and in- added to adjectives. The most common
adverb suffix added to adjectives is –ly . Adverbs are "a heterogenous group of items” specifying “the mode of action of
the verb." (Crystal, 1980:16 as cited in Al-Baghdadi 2003) "by giving circumstantial information in which an action,
process takes place". (Finch, 2000:84 as cited in Al-Baghdadi 2003). Baskervill and Sewell (1896:282-87 as cited in
Nuhiu, 2014) divide them in two ways: the meaning of the words and their use in the sentence. Time, place, manner,
degree, number, assertion ‘process’ ‘direction’, ‘movement’, ‘attachment or detachment’, ‘possession or dispossession’
and ‘context’ (Eastwood, 1999:270-71 as cited in Nuhiu, 2014) belong to the former and simple and conjunctive
adverbs belong to the latter. Quirk and Greenbawm, (1990:312-13 as cited in Nuhiu, 2014) propose two types:
morphological and syntactical, closed class: simple and compound and opened class derivational adverbs. In different
contexts, different adverbs may create different meanings causing meaning confusion. There is another type of adverb:
adverbial emphasis as a receptive intensification. (Pérez-Paredes and Díez-Bedmar, 2012). They say it is a kind of
linguistic grading that intensifies the quality to one’s message; it is ‘a vehicle for impressing, praising, persuading,
insulting, and generally influencing the listener’s reception of the message’” (p. 105).
In investigating the sequence of positioning adverbs, Hewings (2005) says when one adverbial is significantly longer,
the shorter one should come first, regardless of the type. Rutledge and Fitton (2015) relate adverb positioning to the
creation of sentence variety. The use of certain adverbs in certain positions repeatedly will result in redundancy in
sentence style. It will ‘create stagnant sentence structure and relatively boring writing”. So they suggest different
positions. For example, the adverbs of frequency always, and never (Hewings, 2005) “take a fixed place in the mid
position. They need to be placed after the subject and before the verb but the adverb of frequency, sometimes, can occur
in all three positions”. Adverb placement does not always rely on a semantic or syntactic relationship; rather adverb
placement functions as a modifier but also as a distinctive variation for prominence (Jacobson, 1964). The stressed
differences and the weight of adverb placement are a way to change pitch, stress, or junctural connectors in the
sentence.
Delfitto (2006) is amused by “adverbial syntax leading to quite puzzling questions concerning the interplay between
issues of placement and issues of movement” (p. 103). Rutledge and Fitton (2015) conclude that adverbial placement
calls for particular cases of accuracy for clarity to eliminate ill-formed sentences and to develop rhetorical awareness
and rhetorical emphasis in composition.
4. Methodology
It analyzes a business letter writing exercise in English performed by the second year students of the Bachelor of
Business Management program of the Faculty of Business Studies of Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, Sri
Lanka.
The methodology is qualitative and quantitative. It is a textual analytical approach under applied linguistics. During a
Business English examination, as a part of the test, the students were asked to write “a letter of complaint to the Branch
Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board of their district regarding power cuts. As a customer and consumer of
electricity power supply in their respective area, over the last three months, they have experienced severe, unscheduled,
sudden and prolonged power cuts which have caused immense difficulties in managing day to day life in the area”.
The texts from 84 students were collected. They were analyzed for authentic functional, structural, textual and linguistic
relations and errors on the specified issues in the use of adverbs in the discourse of business letters. The primary data
consist of both the quantitative and the qualitative. The quantitative data investigates the performance of all the
respondents statistically for the estimation of the significance of the issue under study and the qualitative data analyzes
the individual as well as collective performance using descriptive approach for generalization. The types of adverb
errors or deviations have been coded in the table so that the codes substituting the names of the types of errors can be
used in the analysis.
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 41
5. Analysis and Findings
5.1 Adverb Use and Types in the Discourse of a Letter of Complaint
Figure 1 illustrates the quantity of the types of adverbs (178) used by the percentage of the respondents (84).
Surprisingly 61% of the respondents used the prepositional phrase in adverbial function generously in their letter of
complaint on power cut, that is, 39% of the total adverbs used. The second and third come single word adverb (19%)
and single word adverb with –ly (16%) suffix respectively. The former was used by 54% of the respondents and the
latter by 64%. Thereafter, noun phrase is used as adverb (11%) used by 25% of the respondents. Another point noted
was that in using prepositional phrases and noun phrases in sentences, the respondents showed lack of knowledge in
distinguishing the function of adverb from that of subject or object complements.
However, the respondents did not show their proficiency in using any other phrases as adverb phrases, for example,
‘very quickly’ ‘quickly enough’ ‘really well’ ‘quite separately’ ‘very carefully’, ‘right there’, ‘more than enough’ and
‘almost never’. Only 4.5% are the other adverb phrases used by 18%. Adverb phrases are another area of difficulty for
most of the respondents.
It is not surprising to note that only 2% are the adverb particles used as adverbs by merely 4%.
Generally adverb particles follow the main verbs, for example, go off etc.
Source: Primary data
Figure 1. The percentage of students using the percentage of the types of adverbs in the letter of complaint
Another positional usage of adverb particle is that it is detached from the verb and put after the object when the object is
a personal pronoun or when it is comparatively short. Another trend is that there are word forms used as both adverb
particles and prepositions.
The nuances of the functional uses of the adverb particles as adverb and at the same time as prepositions do still belong
to the areas of ambiguity and ‘mystery’ to many second language learners and users of English. On the other hand, it
should be noted that even in the use of adverbs, 19% of the respondents used wrongly written adverbs which amounts to
almost 10% of the total adverbs used. Carelessness in a situation of writing speedily could have been one factor.
An adverb phrase can mean a single adverb, "quickly" or an adverb phrase, "not only but also", ‘very late’ or an adverb
particle, ‘about’, ‘above’. However, an adverbial phrase can mean a noun phrase, ‘that time’, ‘these days’, ‘next month’
and a prepositional phrase, ‘at night’, ‘before one month’, ‘in the Mannar town’ used as adverbs. All adverb phrases are
also adverbial phrases. Though an adverbial phrase does not have ‘an adverb’ in the traditional grammatical sense of the
word, it performs as an adverb.
It is a meaning based or function based classification of the adverbs they used in the letter writing. As usual, they have
used adverbs sufficiently to refer time - around seventy expressions of different nature to refer time. The adverbs of
frequency are seen within the category of adverbs of time. The adverb of manner comes second totaling fifty five. The
adverbs of degree, adverbs of focus, adverbs of quantity, and adverbs of attitude are also visible within the adverbs of
Manner. The third major use is place. It is around forty.
Since prepositional phrases are mostly used as adverbs, the respondents used them to denote place predominantly, for
example, in this area, in the area, in my area, in our area, in our district area, etc., at the secondary level, to denote
time: in the mid night, in the morning time, in recent year and finally to denote manner: in a proper way, in the wrong
way, in order etc.
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 42
5.2 The Repetition of the Same Types of Adverbs
The respondents had the habit of repeating the use of the same types of adverbs throughout their discourse of letter
writing. Figure 2 reveals that 18% of the respondents repeated the prepositional phrase (PP) as adverb two times; 14 %
single word adverb with –ly suffix (SWA –ly) and 9% single word adverb (SWA). The rest of the types were almost
avoided for the second time use. However, when it comes to three time use, only 9% use PP and SWA three times and
SWA –ly by 6%. There is a serious decline in repetitive use. In four times, it further goes down as 5%, 0% and 3%
respectively.
Figure 2.The repetition of the types of adverbs
Only PP is used by 5% for the fifth time and 3% for sixth time in their letter. Fifth time SWA comes back for 2% and
1% for the sixth time and SWA-ly completely goes down to zero with the rest in fifth time use and surfaces with 1% for
the sixth time use. It can be concluded that PP is conveniently and generously used with SWA-ly and SWA coming
after. Then a question rises why PP is easier compared to SWA-ly and SWA.
5.3 The Position of the Adverbs used
It is generally accepted that identifying an adverb within a sentence can be a problem to the learners especially
differentiating it from an adjective, from a complement, from a preposition. On the other hand, identifying one type of
adverb from the other can also be a problem especially an adverb phrase from an adverbial phrase and so on. In
addition, there is an additional challenge- making rules in relation to their positioning in a sentence. The rules depend
on traditional usage, flexibility of certain adverbs; the speaker’s intended meaning and emphasis. Figure 3 reveals the
positions the respondents choose to use their adverbs.
The genre of a complaint letter generally has a three-partite discourse structure starting with introduction and
problematization, exploring into the consequences and concluding with suggestions and solutions. According to the
analysis, majority of the respondents adopted this three partite discourse structure but linguistic structure, around 50%
used three paragraphs to incorporate the three discourse structures; 30% used two paragraphs to cover the three
discourse structures and 20% used only one paragraph to include these three discourse divisions. In the analysis of using
adverbs in the initial, medial and final positions of the sentences, the analysis reveals as follows: In the first section
Introduction and problems, 10% and 5% of the adverbs were used at the initial and medial positions respectively.
However, 21% were used at the final position of the sentence. It shows that, for emphasis at the very beginning, the
respondents used the adverbs at the initial position in the introductory discourse. However, in conforming to the
traditional usage, majority of the adverbs were used at the final position.
In investigating the positions of the adverbs in the second section Consequences, there is an increase if the percentage
of the adverbs used at the initial and medial positions – 15% and 8% respectively. Interestingly, there is a slight
decrease in the final position (18%). Here it is notable that the respondents have the courage to break away from the
traditional final position use because they feel that the discourse structure is more important than the linguistic structure,
in other words, meaning over sentence structure. Consequences are both informational and emotional and both
behavioral and mental. It is of serious nature which should be communicated assertively. Therefore, the respondents
venture to choose more front and medial positions.
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 43
Figure 3. The adverbs used at the initial, medial and final positions
In the last section of saying about suggestions and solutions, the assertiveness and seriousness culminates pushing the
positions of the adverbs almost to the front and the middle while downsizing the number at the final position, which is
13%, 8% and 2% respectively.
The final position of a sentence means at the end of the sentence or a clause. The medial position means before the main
verb or after an auxiliary or modal auxiliary. The initial position means at the beginning of a clause/sentence. However,
the respondents very rarely used the adverbs to describe or qualify an adjective, which means, before an adjective or
before and adverb. It shows their poor proficiency in the use of adverbs in their overall functions. Further, it was noted
that some students used -ly adverbs before an adverbial phrase.
The use of adverbs in the positions where it is unacceptable to place adverbs was also noted: between the verb and
object of the sentence and between the verb and a clause beginning with to + an infinitive or a that-clause. Another
complex area the respondents lack proficiency in the use of adverb in positions is that some set of adverbs do not follow
the regular rules and they are negative in communication. Those adverbs have to be used at the beginning of a sentence
like scarcely, not only, seldom, rarely, never and so on. As a result, the consequent SVO or SVC word order of the
sentence will change to look like the question form inversing the auxiliary or helping verb and main verb forms, for
example, never had I seen such a degrading performance; Not only does the doctor visit the school occasionally, but he
also stays overnight in case of finding a large number of patients. Nobody used this negative adverb use with the
inversed position.
5.4 The Quantity of the Adverbs used
Mostly they are used as adverbial phrases and the students find it easier, compared to their positions within other phrase
structures as noun phrase and adverbial particles. They write the adverbial phrases with less noun phrases, for example,
it is not surprising to observe that less students have used verb particle (the additional functions of prepositions when
they join with verbs, for example, come up etc.) as adverbial particle in their writing. It shows that Sri Lankan students
are still reluctant or ignorant to use adverbial particle comfortably in their creative writing.
Another area of investigation is the ability of the respondents in differentiating the function of an adverb phrase from
that of an adverb clause. An adverb phrase is simply two or more words acting as an adverb modifying a verb, adverb,
or adjective. Adverb phrase mostly answers the questions of “how”, “where”, “why”, or “when.” An adverb clause also
modifies verbs, adverbs and adjectives while constituting a subject and a verb. It is mainly used for expressing time,
condition, contrast, and cause and effect. The investigation of the above seven scripts reveal that only two respondents
have used adverb clause only once in their letters - If you take immediate decision, our area people appreciate you
(SN 41 P3:8); Even though we all have informed to the Electricity Board several times, still no action has been taken
(SN 79: P3: 7 & 8). The former is condition and the latter is contrast. The respondents lack fluency in using adverb
clauses in their business communication.
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 44
Table 1. The Performance in the texts of the seven students in the campus
Code Total marks Marks for Words NP PP Adverb
for the the letter
complete test
83 27 3 70 7 11 5
31 40 4 84 9 10 8
2 52 4 96 11 14 7
18 55 4 110 12 10 8
41 61 5 122 15 16 7
37 72 7 116 10 12 8
79 83.5 8 148 15 15 8
Average 40-60 5 70-150 11.3 12.6 7.2
(Total: the total marks of the complete test (3 hours testing all the four skills plus grammar); the letter: the marks given
for the letter out of 10 marks; NP: the number of Noun Phrases; PP: the number of the prepositional Phrases; words: the
number of words in the letter; Av: the average; Adverb: the number of adverbs in the letter)
Table 1 shows a case study of the texts of seven students. There is uniformity between the increase of marks in both the
total test and the essay and that of the number of words used. There is balance in using prepositional phrases in par with
noun phrases (around 10-15 in number). Though the lowest has used five adverbs and the highest performer has used
ten adverbs, the average is 7.2. It reveals that the students do not show any inhibitions or reservations in using adverbs
in their writings. The interesting trend is that most of the prepositional phrases used in the letters are adverbial phrases.
Around 61% of the students have used prepositional phrases as adverbial phrases. Looking at the types of adverbs,
prepositional phrases occupy 39% of the total adverbs used. However, using noun phrases as adverbs is 25% of the total
respondents. Only 11% are the noun phrases used as adverbs out of the total adverbs used (See Figure No 1).
Figure No. 4 reveals the total number of the student texts per the total number of the adverbs used in each text. 5% of
the respondents did not use any adverbs at all in their letter writing. A letter of complaint without adverbs referring
time, place, and manner shows the ignorance or the lowest level proficiency in English communication. They lack the
skills of analysis, synthesis, distinguishing ability, modification, attribution, and qualifying ability. 9.5% used only one
adverb in the whole letter. 18% used only two adverbs; 32% used 3 to 4 adverbs; 21% used five to seven adverbs; 14%
used eight to ten adverbs. This statistics reveals that though 5% did not use adverbs at all in their writing the rest used
the adverbs significantly enough. Analyzing the seven scripts above reveals that the average number of adverbs used is
7.2. The average number of the total respondents (84) reveals that around 55% of the respondents used minimum four to
five adverbs.
Source: Primary Data
Figure 4. The total number of the student texts per the total number of the adverbs used in each text
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 45
5.5 Analysis of Deviation in Discourse
The deviations in the use of adverbs have been listed and described below in Table 2. Collins Cobuild English Usage
(2012) says ‘shortly’ is an adverb. In Deviation [AACE], the student seems to have chosen the meaning, immediately
after the power cut, we have faced immense difficulties….but another possibility is that due to the power cut, recent days
or times, we have faced or have been facing immense difficulties…. The student attributes a new meaning, ‘nowadays’
or ‘at present’, or ‘recent times’.
Table 2. Type of adverb deviations
The student’s intention is ambiguous in Deviation [ABWP]– ‘in properly’ can mean ‘improperly’ which also has some
pragmatic issues like ‘is it because of the way they study or the power cut? However, using a preposition in front of an
adverb is not admissible as seen in [AACE]. In the second sentence, another example is shown. American Heritage
(2011) says that it is an adjective. The student is ambiguous here. This writing can mean 1) this affects our day to day
life and 2) This has a day to day effect on our life. The student is confused about the distinct functional meanings of
affect (verb) and effect (noun) and about using the adjective as adverb. The adverb ‘very’ needs ‘much’ consequently
and ‘has’ replacing ‘is’ in preceding position: this activity has very much affected all the people in our village. The
student has confusion over the adverb and adjective phrases coinable with the adverb form, ‘very’, and the relevant
voice in the verb use.
In Deviation [AVA], the word ‘kindly’ can be used as an adjective (kindlier, kindliest) as well as an adverb. As an
adjective it can mean showing, or proceeding from a benevolent disposition or spirit; kindhearted: kindly people. As an
adverb, it can. However, kindly as adjective is not used with the nouns ‘consideration’ and ‘request’ instead, kind is
used. One the other hand, ‘my kindly requested ‘shows the confusion in using request as a noun or verb. The adverb,
‘well’, is used as adjective which can be ‘good’. The adjectives typical and unexpected replace the adverb forms used.
One thing is notable here. The student shows competence in using past participle verb forms- both positive and negative
adjectives and adverbs with –ly.
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 46
These are all frequently seen in formal invitations and such. They are in the “expected” format. As with all language of
courtesy, there is no need for getting too worked up over what each word literally means in these frozen, fossilized
forms. They have become formulaic, so it is “what people do” on such occasions.
The adjectival expression, day to day, in Deviation [DAB] is used as adverb. The adjective, ‘orderly’ is used as adverb
with an additional deviation: preposition with adjective as an isolated form. In Deviation [DUSAB], the deviation
shows the notion of double time use of an expression as an emphatic or reinforced idea.
It is prevalent in the native Sri Lankan languages, Tamil and Sinhala. In Deviation [SSMA], although it is acceptable to
start a sentence with an adverb, adverb phrase, or adverbial phrase, this distorted use of almost four adverbs is not
appropriate. In Deviation [UABU], there is no need for ‘kindly’ to thank somebody.
In Deviation [WAP], the standard form needs a preposition- as early as possible. Here the student has used a
comparative form earlier. This is not usual. In the second sentence, it can be please take a decision as quickly as well.
In the third sentence, though the adverb, somewhat is used, it needs clarification. It means a moderate extent or by a
moderate amount; rather, for example, "matters have improved somewhat since then". Usually the adverb comes after
the verb; this sentence has it vice versa without a subject as an instruction. In Deviation [AVS], in the first sentence, the
word order is as follows: 500 school students live in this area. So the adverb is positioned in front.
6. Findings
The findings confirm that the ESL users or learners master the use of adverbs in English at the surface level without
understanding the deep level implications and nuances. Their use of adverbs shows a confused or ambiguous qualified
or quantified relationship with an action denoted by a verb or its equivalent in contrast to consider ‘adverbial emphasis
as a receptive intensification’ (Pérez-Paredes and Díez-Bedmar, 2012). Compared to meaning and function based use of
the adverbs, the sentence or linguistic structure based use of adverbs lack diversity. As Zi-hong (2010) stated, the
difficulty of capturing the rhetorical repositioning while “learning or acquiring the syntactic positions of adverbs in
English” (p. 50) is identified in this research. The average number of the total respondents reveals that generally the
students use minimum four to five adverbs in their letter consisting around 120 words in average. It seems acceptable.
However, when a sample of seven selected scripts based on the score obtained progressively revealed that the average is
almost eight adverbs. However, as mentioned before, they lack diversity of types and functions.
The use reflects maturity in terms of time, place and manner or process functions. However, though the adverbs of
degree, adverbs of focus, adverbs of quantity, and adverbs of attitude are also visible within the adverbs of Manner, the
competency for differentiating the taxonomy of adverbs within the adverbs of manner or process is lacking among the
students. Another area of difficulty for distinguishing the different functions is the adverbial and complementary
functions.
The majority of Sri Lankan university students ignore the nuances in producing and recognizing and using the sentence
structure based types of adverbs, adverb phrases, adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses, sentence adverbs and the
different types and uses of adverb phrase from adverbial phrase. The prepositional phrase, single word adverb and
single word adverb with –ly suffix are considerably used in adverbial function. Adverb particle, noun phrase, adverbs
with the –edly suffix, sentence adverbs and adverb clauses are not very much in use. In addition, the differentiating
ability between adverb and adjective words, phrases and clauses is also insufficient. The respondents could not extend
the role of adverb to ‘express degree and limit adjectives or other adverbs (Baskervill and Sewell, 1896:18 as cited in
Nuhiu, 2014).
The analysis of the repetitive use of the adverbs further confirm the above mentioned point about the efficient and
effective use of the meaning based and sentence based classification of adverbs. Primarily prepositional phrase, then
SWA, and SWA-ly are used in repetition. Then a question rises why Prepositional Phrase is easier compared to SWA-ly
and SWA. The respondents confirmed Delfitto’s (2006) amusement about “adverbial syntax leading to quite puzzling
questions concerning the interplay between issues of placement and issues of movement” (p. 103). The students lack the
competence in the extensive taxonomy of the meaning based and sentence based adverbs and their structural and
functional uses. Prepositional phrase is a universal feature used and usable as representative unit conveniently and
generously in almost all the parts of speech in the traditional sense of the word as they are also parts of speech (Kabashi,
2000:20 as cited in Nuhiu, 2014). Students are just aware of the visible surface level units such as
‘prepsotion+article+adjective+noun’ in isolation, not as a holistic unit representing the type and function called
adverbial.
The students face an additional challenge – adverb shifting position causing problems for ESL students (Hernández,
2006)- understanding and applying rules in relation to their positioning in a sentence. The rules depend on traditional
usage, flexibility of certain adverbs; the speaker’s intended meaning and emphasis. The genre of a complaint letter
generally has a three-partite discourse structure starting with introduction and problematization, exploring into the
consequences and concluding with suggestions and solutions. It shows adverbial fronting (Hewings, 2005) that, for
emphasis at the very beginning, the respondents used the adverbs at the initial position in the introductory discourse.
However, in conforming to the traditional usage, majority of the adverbs were used at the final position as the position
after the main verb is generally considered as its usual position (Koffi, 2010, p. 276). However, there is an increase if
the percentage of the adverbs used at the initial and medial positions in the sections of Consequence and Solution
respectively. Here it is notable that the respondents have the courage to break away from the traditional final position
use because they feel that the discourse structure is more important than the linguistic structure, giving importance to
IJALEL 5(5):39-48, 2016 47
‘the rhetorical emphasis of adverb repositioning’ (Dissosway & Hartford, 1984), in other words, meaning over sentence
structure (Baskervill and Sewell, 1896:282-87 as cited in Nuhiu, 2014). In addition, most of them lack distinctive use of
adverbs of exceptional types such as negative adverbs – fronting and inversing- and of exceptional functions. As
Macaulay, (2002) pointed, most of the respondents lack good educational background and social class (middle) to
determine efficient use of adverb movement strategies more effectively as they are from poor educational background
and lower class.
Finally, in committing errors or deviations in adverb use, it is notable that compared to the percentage of quantitative
and qualitative errors or deviations in the use of articles, prepositions and tenses, it is very less in adverb use. This study
suggests a need for ‘a focused position on adverb placement’ (Dissosway & Hartford, 1984) in learning.
7. Conclusion and Suggestions
This research intensively investigates the types, functions, positions, quantity and quality and deviations of the adverbs
used by the respondents, the undergraduates of the Bachelor of Business Management degree program of Vavuniya
Campus of the university of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Most of them fail to acquire the distinctions and implications correctly
in their typical structures and functions. The majority of textbook writers and syllabus designers do not distinguish the
functional meanings of adverbs from their typical structures when they are used within the reading passages and
listening sessions. Therefore, many students are confused in the distinct and non-distinct uses of the adverbs
functionally and structurally. A substantial recommendation can be that the Sri Lankan school text book and syllabus
designers should incorporate a comparison of the functional and structural use of respective group of the types of
adverbs semantically and pragmatically and linguistically at micro- and macro-levels.
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http://www.davidpublishing.com/davidpublishing/Upfile/4/18/2012/2012041884781969.pdf
Ideologies in Mandela’s No Easy Walk to Freedom

Ali AbdulhameedFaris
Dept of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Shamala Paramasivam (Corresponding author)

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

Abstract
Ideology has great influence on the traits and behaviors of leaders. It is the vehicle by which we could understand our
leaders and our leaders could understand us. The present paper is an endeavor to reveal the ideological dimension that is
embedded in the discourse of Nelson Mandela, with special reference to his address No Easy Walk to Freedom which
was delivered in 1953. It is conducted on the approach of Critical Discourse Analysis. Van Dijk's (2004) Political
Ideological Strategies and Wodak's (2005) Discursive Strategies of Positive Self- and Negative Other-Presentation were
accommodated to achieve the objective of the study. The findings demonstrated that Van Dijk's strategies of actor
description, positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation and Wodak's two chosen strategies of
argumentation and perspectivation were supportive in exploring the ideologies penetrated in Mandela's discourse. They
five strategies proved to be helpful devices in exploring the fundamentally embedded ideologies in Mandela's discourse
which are "white superiority" and "black inferiority". White superiority was the ideological foundation of the white
minority to establish the apartheid system in South Africa for decades, whereas black inferiority was the ideological
foundation of the black majority to sustain different forms of resistance against the white governments. Therefore, it
could be perceived that the social acts of both the blacks and the whites were formed and structured in terms of these
two ideological foundations.
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideology, Political Discourse, Nelson Mandela
1. Introduction
The term ideology has been tackled amid considerable controversy. Kress (1985) acknowledges that it is difficult to pin
down the term ideology which is considered one of the more controversial topics in the fields of philosophy and
sociology. Similarly, Wodak (2007) believes that ideology is regarded as one of the thorniest terms of opinions and
beliefs. Van Dijk (1998) views that ideology remains fuzzy and unsettled and researchers admit to the vagueness of this
notion and the confusion of its theoretical analysis. However, Kress (1985, p. 29) demonstrates that the term ideology
has been subjected to different accounts in that it has extended from the innocuous set of beliefs and ideas to the more
controversial ones such as the "false consciousness", or the "ideas of the dominant ruling class". Wodak (2007, p. 2)
tackles the modern debates on ideology by considering two main strands. The first is that "Ideologies as false theories
about reality can be overcome and replaced by scientific theories and/or scientifically founded agency", whereas the
second assumes the "dialectical" notion by viewing "ideology" as being an unavoidable moment in the process of
thinking and acting.
Some linguists believe that political discourse is basically ideological. Van Dijk (1998), for example, looks upon
political discourse as not merely a genre. Rather it is a class of genres which involves a variety of political activities;
each activity is considered to be a genre. On this basis, parliamentary arguments, cabinet meetings, speeches of
politicians, and party conferences and programs are all examples of the different genres that are related to the domain of
politics. He views that political discourse is not only restricted to political ideologies but also involves ideologies that
pertain to ecology, feminism and racism or which are considered to be part of political ideologies although they are not
purely politics. According to him, political discourse is a medium through which politicians legitimize and enact their
multiple identities; therefore, they are found speaking on conservatism or liberalism, feminism or anti-feminism, racism
or anti-racism.
Abercrombie and Hill (1980) and Van Dijk (2004) believe that not only the dominant group have ideologies but even
the dominated whose ideologies are often of resistance and opposition. On this basis, it could be concluded that
ideologies are representations of the interests of social groups, classes or communities. Accordingly, the term ideology
in the context of the current paper is tackled in terms of the ideologies underlined in the discourse of the dominated
group represented by the discourse of Nelson Mandela. The current work advocates Van Dijk's (2004) and Wodak's
(2005) views on ideological beliefs, both of which are discussed in further detail in section 3.
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 50
2. Research Objectives
Having gone through literature on the concept of "ideology" in the discourse of non-western leaders, it has been found
that it is an area which has not got adequate research and it is still a point of debate and discussion. Based on this view,
the current study is a critical endeavor to explore the underlying discursive ideologies in the discourse of the non-
western political leader, Nelson Mandela, who, via the beliefs, values and attitudes he shared with his masses and
communicated to them, succeeded in constructing his iconicity as one of the most important global figures. Despite the
fact that there is intensive research conducted on this leader that most of it is centered around his early life, personal
characters, leadership, ideals, charisma, trial, imprisonment, and presidency, there is still rare research conducted on the
linguistic insights of the discourse of this leader, namely his discursively ideological attitudes. The objective of the
present study; therefore, is to linguistically examine the ideological attitudes embedded in his discourse with particular
reference to No Easy Walk To Freedom, a speech which was delivered before his imprisonment. This study is an
attempt to extend the findings of a study conducted by Faris, Paramasivam, Tan and Abdul (2016) on persuasive
strategies in Mandela's No Easy Walk to Freedom. It is part of a large study which aims to investigate the role of
ideologies in producing and shaping Mandela's discourse across the four stages of his political career, before his
imprisonment, after his imprisonment, during his presidency, and during his retirement.
3. Related Literature
The main concern of critical discourse analysis (CDA) is to study and analyze written and spoken texts so as to reveal
the discursive practices of power, dominance, oppression, solidarity and ideology (Van Dijk, 1998; Johnstone, 2008).
Through systematic study of the interconnection between discourse and social and cultural practices, awareness of
communication would be elevated and; therefore, more understanding, tolerance and fewer problems would be
established (Georgakopoulou & Goustsos, 1997). Wodak (2007) states that CDA is distinctive in its two perspectives,
the interconnection between language and society and the relationship between analyses and the social practices that are
analyzed. The approach of CDA is; therefore, adopted in this study to highlight the underlying ideologies which
constitute the discourse of Mandela and which are constituted by it. As a theoretical framework for the whole study,
Fairclough's (1989) approach of CDA has been accommodated to help explore ideology which is beyond the linguistic
perspective. It involves three stages of discourse analysis:
1. Description: this stage is interested in highlighting the formal properties of text. At this stage, the critical discourse
analyst is concerned with studying the formal properties of discourse, such as vocabulary, textual structure and
grammar.
2. Interpretation: this stage tackles the relationship between text and discourse analysis. Interpretations are generated
dialectically in terms of the interpreter's background knowledge.
3. Explanation: this stage is concerned with describing discourse as a social practice or social process. It shows how the
interconnection between discourse and social structures is determined.
Ideologies, according to Van Dijk (2001, 1998), are manifested in the activities of people who interact in society as
members of social groups. Accordingly, different forms of domination can be found between variant groups of
members. Women may be found discriminated by men, the black could be found dominated by the white, the poor may
be excluded and disregarded by the rich, and the aged could be found ignored and marginalized by the young. These
different forms of discrimination are supposed to be penetrated in text and talk. Relevantly, ideologies are not only
ingrained in the verbal activities, but also in the paraverbal activities, such as gestures, facial expressions, etc. Thus, the
interaction between members who belong to different ethnic, racial, religious, and political groups would give rise to
the underlying ideologies which characterize each group. Against such background, it is highly expected to find
members of one group practicing marginalization, exclusion, and degradation against members of another group. In
such a case the members of the dominated group could be deprived of their basic rights, such as having jobs, expressing
thought, having homes, having education, etc. What is significant to realize at this point is that all these forms of
discrimination and domination are embodied in discourse.
The members of a group are characterized by specific social behaviors and attitudes and specific mental models. They
constitute what is called by Fairclough (1995), Van Dijk (1998, 2004) and Wodak (2005) the in-group which is a
prototype of cohesion, coordination and cooperation. The identification of the in-group is syllogistically an
identification of the out-group which is, meanwhile, characterized by its own social representations and, henceforth, by
its own ideologies. Van Dijk (1998, 2004) and Wodak (2005) believe that accounting for ideological discourse is to be
based on social representations between groups. Political discourse is, thus, viewed by Fairclough (1995), Van Dijk
(1998, 2004) and Wodak (2005) as a form of social activity and social representation.
Van Dijk (2004) views that discourse, ideology and politics are interconnected, that is both politics and ideologies are
discursive. Ideologies play an influential role in politics, specifically in defining political entities (systems,
organizations, movement). To emphasize our good things and their bad things, and to de-emphasize our bad things and
their good things is considered, by Fairclough (1995), Wodak (2004, 2008), and Van Dijk (1998, 2001, 2004), as a
strategy to express the underlying ideologies in political discourse. Van Dijk (1998, 2004) suggests a number of
strategies for ideological analysis. They can be utilized for analyzing racist and anti-racist ideologies in the speeches of
particular members of the British House of Commons. Van Dijk (2004) states that these strategies are not limited to
only racist or anti-racist ideologies; they are applicable to different types of ideologies. In the present study, they are
used to reveal the underlying ideologies in the political speeches of Nelson Mandela. However, it could be realized that
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 51
not all of them are appropriate to analyze the ideologies under examination because some of them have been formulated
by Van Dijk (2004) to be mostly pertinent to the issue of immigration seekers to Britain. Therefore, the present study
has excluded the strategies that are pragmatically inapplicable to the investigation of the ideologies in the speeches
under study and included only those which are pragmatically relevant to the nature of ideologies embedded in the
discourse under investigation. They are expressed as follows:
a. Actor Description:
This strategy refers to the different types of actor description which are involved in all discourses about people and their
actions. In discourse, actors are described either as members of group or as individuals. They are described by the first
name, the name of the family, the name of the group, or the role of the group. They may also be referred to in terms of
their actions, attributes, position, or relations to other people. Actors, in discourses, are described and evaluated in terms
of ideologies. The in-group members are described positively, whereas the out-group members are described negatively
since positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation is a general ideological strategy in discourse. An
example of actor description can be recognized in the discourse of the British House of Commons member, Mrs.
Gorman, who negatively describes a Romanian asylum seeker by stating:
In one case, a man from Romania, who came over here on a coach tour for a football match decided
that he did not want to go back, declared himself an asylum seeker and is still here four years later. He
has never done a stroke of work in his life
(Van Dijk, 2004, p. 17).
b. Negative-Other Presentation: it is an overall strategy which is based on derogating the out-groups. It is ideologically
based because people are usually categorized into in-group and out-group, a categorization or division that is based on
socially shared ideologies and attitudes. Based on this conception, speakers raise the bad properties and things of the
out-group. Van Dijk (2004, p, 21) gives an example of "negative-other presentation" when he refers to the description
that Mrs. Gorman has given about the asylum seekers (see example in (a) above. She describes them as "benefit
seekers".
c. Positive Self- Presentation: it is a strategy that is purely ideological as it is based on defining, praising, and favoring
the in-group. This strategy may take either individual form when the speaker emphasizes his own positive
characteristics or exploits, or collective form when he focuses on the positive characteristics of his group which might
be his own party or country. This strategy also involves the references that speakers make when raising their principles,
history and traditions. Mrs. Gorman produces an example of the positive self-presentation by saying:
I entirely support the policy of the Government to help genuine asylum seekers, but…
(Van Dijk, 2004, p. 22).
Wodak (2005) suggests five types of discursive strategies for ideological analysis. Discursive strategy refers to the
systematic ways of using language and can be adopted to implement certain aims: social, political, psychological or
linguistic (Wodak2005). According to her, discursive strategies are involved in the notion of positive self- and negative
other-presentation and they are based on the construction of “Us" and "Them":
a. Referential Nomination: the aim of this strategy is to construct the in-groups and the out-groups. The main device of
this strategy is membership categorization. An example of this strategy is obvious in the following excerpt from the
speech of Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, where he categorizes two groups, the Iraqi
regime as out-group which is described as a dictatorial regime that has tyrannized and brutalized its people, and Britain
and the world as in-group which confronts the central security threat of the out-group (the Iraqi regime):
So: Why does it matter so much? Because the outcome of this issue will determine more than the fate
of Iraqi regime and more than the future of the Iraqi people, for so long brutalized by Saddam. It will
determine the way Britain and the world confront the central security threat of the 21st century
(Tony Blair, March 18, 2003, www.theguardian.com).
b. Predication: the objective of this strategy is to label the social actors negatively or positively. Definitely the in-group
members are described positively, whereas the out-group ones are described negatively. Therefore, evaluating
attributions of negative or positive traits is the device of this strategy. An example of this strategy can be found in the
following excerpt from the speech of Tony Blair where he describes negatively the out-group, represented by Saddam
Hussein who was the president of the Iraqi regime, by utilizing the metaphor "evil":
Looking back over 12 year, we have been victims of our own desire to placate the implacable,
towards reason the utterly unreasonable, to hope that there was some genuine intent to do good in a
regime whose mind is in fact evil.
(Tony Blair, March 18, 2003, www.theguardian.com.).
c. Argumentation: the objective of this strategy is to justify or legitimize positive or negative attributions. Justifying
political inclusion or exclusion is the device of this strategy. In the following text, for example, Margaret Thatcher, the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, argues the problem of unemployment in England at the outset of the 1980s and
tries to justify why it is not so easy to deal with such a problem:
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 52
If I could press a button and genuinely solve the unemployment, do you think that I would not press
that button this instant? Does anyone imagine that there is the smallest political gain in letting this
unemployment continue, or that there is some obscure economic religion which demands this
unemployment as part of its rituals? This Government are pursuing the only policy which gives any
hope of bringing our people back to real and lasting employment
(Thatcher, October 10, 1980, www.margaretthatcher.org).
d. Perspectivation: the aim of this strategy is to express the involvement of the speaker. The device of this strategy is
reporting, describing, narrating, or quoting events and utterances. In an attempt to create involvement, Obama, in the
following text, narrates an incident and quotes utterances:
Some years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler of Minneapolis were newlyweds. She waited tables. He
worked construction. Their first child, Jack, was on the way. They were young and in love in
America, and it does not get much better than that. "If only we had known", Rebekah wrote to me last
Spring, "What was about to happen to the housing and construction market." As the crisis worsened,
Ben's business dried up, so he took what jobs he could find, even if they kept him on the road for long
stretches of time…..
(Obama, January 20, 2015, www.mediaite.com).
e. Intensification or Mitigation: the objective of this strategy is to express if the utterances are stated explicitly or
implicitly, if they are intensified or mitigated. The devices of this strategy are to intensify or mitigate utterances. An
example of this strategy can be seen in the following excerpt from the speech of Tony Blair where he intensifies his
proposition concerning an issue that Britain faces; intensification is performed throughout the emphatic employment of
the question, “But why does it matter so much?":
The question most often posed is not why does it matter? But why does matter so much? Here we are,
the government with its most serious test, its majority at risk, the first cabinet resignation over an
issue of policy. The parties divided
(Blair, March 18, 2003, www.theguardian.com).
In the context of the present study, only Wodak’s (2005) strategies of Argumentation and Perspectivation are adopted as
there is an overlap between her strategies of Referential nomination, Predication and Intensification or mitigation with
Van Dijk's (2004)strategies of political ideological analysis. Figure 1 illustrates the theoretical framework of this study.
Critical Discourse Analysis

( Fairclough, 1989)
Ideological Political Strategies Discursive Strategies of Positive Self-

(Van Dijk, 2004) and Negative Other-Presentation
 Actor Description (Wodak, 2005)
 Negative- Other Presentation  Argumentation
 Positive Self-Presentation  Perspectivation
Figure 1. Theoretical Framework of the Study
4. Methodology
The present study attempts to highlight the interconnection between discourse, ideology and politics. It is qualitative in
nature and it reflects on the conventions of Critical Discourse Analysis as a method of data analysis. Having been
qualitative study involving mostly non-statistical approach of data analysis (Merriam, 2009), the present paper is
orientated towards a selection of material which can be done manually. The unit of analysis in this study encompasses
words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and the total speech act vis-à-vis the total speech situation. Discourse analysis,
according to Coulthard (1977) and Stubbs (1983) is an attempt to examine how language use can be absorbed in various
social contexts. It is supposed to decipher the meaning of words, phrases, and clauses that a sentence is composed of
and to go beyond the boundaries of sentence to tackle the whole text in connection to the exterior world.
For the ideological analysis, Van Dijks' (2004) Political Ideological Strategies and Wodak's Discursive Strategies of
Positive Self- and Negative-Other Presentation comprised the analytical framework. Lexical repetition (of nouns and
adjectives), which is a cohesive tool in discourse (Halliday & Hassan, 1976), and meaning relations (of synonymous
and antonymous nouns and adjectives), which are predictive and reflective in all types of discourse (Fairclough, 1989,
were accommodated in this study as helpful linguistic devices to uncover the ideologies embedded in the speech under
investigation. Table 1 in Appendix displays the analysis of these devices in the speech concerned.
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 53
The main criterion of data collection was to choose a speech that was addressed during a critical and memorable
moment in the history of South Africa. Accordingly, the sampling of the study is selected from Mandela's No Easy
Walk to Freedom which was delivered in 1953 to a rally of 10,000. The essential message of this address, which had
profound impact on the social and political life of South Africans, is to call for protesting campaign wherein
desegregation and democracy were the basic demands of the protesters (Dennenberg, 2014). It is available at
(https://www.mandela.gov.za/Mandela _speeches/ before/ 530921. tranvaal. htm). See also Faris et al (2016) for the
entire speech.
5. Results and Discussion
Excerpts from the given speech of Mandela are analyzed and discussed in terms of ideological strategies (Actor
Description, Positive self-presentation, Negative other- presentation) and discursive strategies (Argumentation and
Perspectivation).
5.1 Ideological Strategies
5.1.1 Actor Description
Example 1
25 The government launched its reactionary offensive and struck at us.
26 Between July last year and August this year forty-seven leading members from both Congresses in
Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Kimberley were arrested, tried and convicted for launching the
Defiance Campaign and given suspended sentences ranging from three months to two years on
condition that they did not again participate in the defiance of the unjust laws.
27 In November last year, a proclamation was passed which prohibited meetings of more than ten
Africans and made it an offence for any person to call upon an African to defy.
28 Contravention of this proclamation carried a penalty of three years or of a fine of three hundred
pounds.
29 In March this year the Government passed the so-called Public Safety Act which empowered it to
declare a state of emergency and to create conditions which would permit of the most ruthless and
pitiless methods of suppressing our movement.
In this extract, Mandela gives concrete description of the oppressive measures and policies practiced by the apartheid
forces against the Africans who have determined to sustain anti-apartheid defiance until achieving the final goals of the
nation. What is prominent in this extract is that two cross groups can be identified. One group is represented by the
black people who defy the different forms of oppression and injustice. The second group is represented by the white
racial authorities who seek to impose their domination over the blacks. In line 25, Mandela attempts to polarize his
audience by utilizing the pronoun “us”. Utilizing this pronoun may help the speaker to create a sense of unified
interaction with his receivers, it may ultimately commit both the speaker and receivers to attain their achievable goals.
Van Dijk (1998) expresses that the technique of Us and Them is utilized by politicians as an expression of polarized
cognition. Similar findings were made by Allen (2007) when he investigated the way that the two Australian politicians
John Howard and John Lathan utilized the pronouns "Us" and "Them" in their speeches during their election campaign.
The findings of the study showed that the employment of these two pronouns was a demonstration of the two leaders'
political inclusion and exclusion and a reflection of their intention to create a sense of oneness with their political
groups.
Attempting to reveal the unjust and inhuman acts of the out-group, Mandela utilizes numbers to assert a high degree of
credibility and objectivity, as in "forty seven", "three months" and "two years" in line 26, "ten Africans" in line 27, and
"three years" and "three hundred pounds" in line 28. Van Dijk (1998, p.79) says: "Numbers and statistics are primary
means in our culture to persuasively display objectivity". Mandela, via the manipulation of numbers, tries to reveal
himself as an enthusiastic and resourceful leader who is highly concerned with the details of both the anti-apartheid
defiance campaign of the Africans and the reactionary offensives of the apartheid authorities. Equally significant,
employing numbers, as a way of vital information, may help Mandela to raise the level of understanding of his masses
in regard to the nature of the oppressive political system of South Africa. Leaders, according to Bourdieu (1991)(cited
in Meadows, 2009) coin linguistic and semiotic images of the self and connect them with the objectives and aspirations
of their audience through the power of discourse.
Mandela, in line 29, refers to the "Public Safety Act", in March 1953,which empowers the racial government to declare
a state of emergency. Via the use of the synonymous adjectives "ruthless" and "pitiless", in line 29, Mandela tries to
emphasize the idea that the "Public Safety Act" is one of flagrant breaches of human rights exercised by the apartheid
state. Van Dijk (1998) expresses that politicians employ lexemes which intensify the negative characteristics of the out-
group.
Mandela, in line 29, presupposes that the "Public Safety Act", which has been perpetrated by the apartheid regime, is
one of the gross abuses of human rights. Presupposition, according to Simpson and Mayr 2010, is a linguistic strategy
that is utilized in political discourse when politicians involve their receivers to deduce meaning and make assumptions
while they deliver information.
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 54
Mandela appears to be certain that all the policies and measures of the white governments are suppressing and unjust as
they do harm, degradation, and exclusion for the majority of the nation. To confirm bias to his cause, he utilizes the
technique of “vagueness” (Van Dijk, 1998, p. 84) by employing the superlative form of the adjectives "ruthless" and
"pitiless" in line 29, "the most ruthless and pitiless", to emphasize the tremendousness of the suppressing policies
exercised by the apartheid regime against the African protesters and their leaders.
5.1.2 Positive Self-Presentation
Example 2
110 But in spite of all the difficulties outlined above, we have won important victories.
111 The general political level of the people has been considerably raised and they are now more
conscious of their strength.
112 Action has become the language of the day.
113 The ties between the working people and the Congress have been greatly strengthened.
114 This is a development of the highest importance because in a country such as ours a political
organisation that does not receive the support of the workers is in fact paralysed on the very ground
on which it has chosen to wage battle.
115 Leaders of trade union organisations are at the same time important officials of the provincial and
local branches of the ANC In the past we talked of the African, Indian and Coloured struggles.
116 Though certain individuals raised the question of a united front of all the oppressed groups, the
various non-European organisations stood miles apart from one another and the efforts of those for
co-ordination and unity were like a voice crying in the wilderness and it seemed that the day would
never dawn when the oppressed people would stand and fight together shoulder to shoulder against a
common enemy.
117 Today we talk of the struggle of the oppressed people which, though it is waged through their
respective autonomous organisations, is gravitating towards one central command.
Mandela attempts to deepen the relations between him and the masses and maintain the flesh-and–blood ties between
the African National congress (ANC), and the masses. Despite the severe measures of oppression and suppression of the
racial forces, the African protestors are resolved to break down the strongholds of racial domination. Mandela, in this
extract, is interested in presenting positive description of the in-group (the anti-racial protesters) and appears to be so
proud of the victories they have made (see line 110 "But in spite…….. important victories").
Van Dijk (2001) explains that ideologies are manifested when there is polarization of thought, opinions, or discourse. It
is during this process of polarization, prejudiced discourse, which is characterized by positive self-presentation,
emerges. In an endeavor to adhere to the masses, Mandela utilizes the strategy of self-glorification, in line 111 "The
general political…… their strength", when he states that the public have developed political awareness in regard to their
life under apartheid. They have started to move and take initiative and action against the different forms of
discrimination and injustice. The use of this strategy was also discovered by Taghinezhad (2015), who highlighted the
ideological technique of self-glorification in Obama's inaugural speech; he found that Obama was attentive to proudly
talking about the American history of democracy and liberalism.
Mandela believes that the gulf between the public and racial authorities has become evident. Accordingly the African
people have succeeded to deal effectively with different challenges and have been able to achieve one breakthrough
after another. Barber and Barratt (1990) express that the African National Congress (ANC), presided by Nelson
Mandela in 1950s, advocated the strategy of non-violence which involved strikes, boycotts, and other acts of civil
disobedience. These acts came to be known as defiance campaign which was not directed against a particular color or
race but it was a response against social chaos, tyranny and the unjust laws which imposed the majority of population to
live in utter misery and subjection.
Having been influenced by the ideologies of communism, Mandela seems to be highly interested in the working class.
The African workers, according to him, can play vital role in the defiance campaign as they pose the majority of the
African population. They are described by Mandela as "oppressed" inasmuch as they are targeted by the unfair and
inhuman measures of the apartheid state(see lines 116 and 117). To shed much light on the policy of oppression that the
racial forces have exercised against black people in general and black workers in particular, he repeats the word
"oppressed" five times in the speech (see lines 101, 107, 116, 117, 162). According to Holmes (2009), the term
"working people" refers to the overwhelming majority of society rather than to the factory or industrial workers. In
Marxist terms, the working class, which is self-conscious and independent as it represents the immense majority of
society, has the right to take over the running of society. Obviously, Mandela praises the strong ties that have been held
between the working class and the African National Congress (the anti-racist resistance movement) (see line 113 " The
ties……… greatly strengthened"). Van Dijk (1998) states that the strategy of positive self-presentation involves a
variety of forms; one of these forms is self-glorification. In the above example, Mandela, being very aware of the
leading role of the working class, glorifies the great sacrifices of the African workers for the cause of liberty and
freedom (see line 114). The African workers, according to Barber and Baratt (1990), maintained a long struggle against
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 55
the apartheid authorities. It was a struggle between the exploiter (racial governments) and the exploited (the working
class) who had nothing to win except the free world. The significance of working people, according to Mandela, lies in
their power to affect the economy of the racial state, namely when they go on general strikes. They are the basic part of
any mass movement aiming to resist the racist state.
Drawing a comparison between the past and present anti-racial struggle, Mandela believes that past anti-racial struggle
has been fruitless because it has lacked unity and coordination. On the contrary, he is full of praise of the present
struggle wherein different Non-European anti-racial movements have unified, coordinated and organized their efforts to
confront the threats and challenges of the apartheid state (line 117 "Today we talk…... central command").
5.1.3 Negative Other-Presentation
Example 3
75 The Government has introduced in Parliament the Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Bill and the
Bantu Education Bill.
76 Speaking on the Labour Bill, the Minister of Labour, Ben Schoeman, openly stated that the aim of
this wicked measure is to bleed African trade unions to death.
77 By forbidding strikes and lockouts it deprives Africans of the one weapon the workers have to
improve their position.
78 The aim of the measure is to destroy the present African trade unions which are controlled by the
workers themselves and which fight for the improvement of their working conditions in return for a
Central Native Labour Board controlled by the Government and which will be used to frustrate the
legitimate aspirations of the African worker.
79 The Minister of Native Affairs, Verwoerd, has also been brutally clear in explaining the objects of the
Bantu Education Bill.
80 According to him the aim of this law is to teach our children that Africans are inferior to Europeans.
81 African education would be taken out of the hands of people who taught equality between black and
white.
82 When this Bill becomes law, it will not be the parents but the Department of Native Affairs which
will decide whether an African child should receive higher or other education.
83 It might well be that the children of those who criticise the Government and who fight its policies will
almost certainly be taught how to drill rocks in the mines and how to plough potatoes on the farms of
Bethal.
84 High education might well be the privilege of those children whose families have a tradition of
collaboration with the ruling circles.
Part of negative other-presentation, Mandela is involved in talking about the racial measures of the government, namely
the Native Labor Settlement of Dispute Act which was introduced to the parliament by the government in 1953 (see line
75).Mandela endeavors to describe the unjust measures of the racial authorities. To emphasize his negative views on the
discriminatory and oppressive methods of the racial state; he uses the adjective "wicked" repetitively in the speech. It
can be seen in lines 76 and 105. It could also be observed that Mandela, in the above example, uses the antonyms
"wicked" (line 76) and "legitimate" (line 78) to draw a distinction between two opposite directions, the wicked
measures of the racial state and the legitimate aspirations of the black workers.
Highlighting the sufferings and miseries of the blacks because of the full domination of the white governments,
Mandela makes a mention to one glaring example of the machinery of oppression and repression of the racial state
which was the enactment of the Native Labor Bill (see line 76) which legalized the crackdown of the African workers
by banning them to go on strikes or lockouts (Giliomee, 2009).Workers who intended to breach it would be either
fined$500, or imprisoned for three years. Despite receiving a great level of opposition, this act illegalized the South
African Unions for their anti-racial activities.
Mandela appears to be ironic when talking of Ben Schoeman, the Minister of Labor. What is ironic in this context is
that instead of acting to ensure the safety conditions and rights of the African workers and African Trade Unions,
Schoeman undertakes unfair and inhuman measures against them (see line 76). Despite the fact that Schoeman knew
very well that Native Labor Bill had been enacted to cripple the anti-racial activities of the African Trade Unions, which
were controlled by the African workers, he ironically claimed that the Africans' poor experience of the responsibilities
of Trade Unionism was the real reason behind the enactment of such Act (Clark and Worger, 2011).Hutcheon (1994)
states that examples of the scene of irony are concentrated in political speeches, especially those which tackle issues of
race and class.
The Native Labor Act, according to Durbow (2014), denied the black Africans the right to resist the demands of their
European employers under any circumstances. Employing the word "wicked" (line 76) Mandela tries to emphasize the
idea that the Native Labour Act is a glaring violation of workers' rights because strikes and lockouts are the only path
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 56
through which workers may improve their conditions by calling for their plundered rights (line 77).Mandela degrades
Schoeman for his open statement that the aim of Native Labor Bill is to destroy the African Trade Unions as they
motivate African workers to go on strike and lockout (line 78).Targeting the African Trade Unions, according to
Mandela, is a targeting of the legitimate dreams and aspirations of the African workers who cover a high proportion of
the black population.
In addition to the Native Labor Act which reflect the aggressive and discriminatory nature of the apartheid, Mandela
refers to the Bantu Education Act which is a flagrant attack against the right of the blacks to get good education (line
79). Based on this act, it could be realized that education is segregated because educational facilities are separated. The
whites have the full right to obtain a high level of education, whereas the blacks have to be prepared as laboring class.
Mandela makes a reference to Verwoerd (known to be the mastermind of apartheid (Burnell, 2010)),who clearly
declares the unjust objectives of Bantu Education Act (line 80). According to Mandela, Bantu Education Act is a
striking reflection of the ideology of white supremacy. In line 81, he uses the antonyms "black" and "white" to
emphasize the idea that blacks have been treated as inferior in nature to the white. For this reason, he repeats the word
"supremacy" four times in the speech to emphasize the theme that "white supremacy" is the ideological basis of the
European policies of extension, racism and colonialism across the world (see lines 93,95,96,97). It has been publically
advocated as the overall ideology of the racial authorities of South Africa. For example, the Minister of Native Affairs,
Hendrik Verwoerd, has openly stated that blacks have no place in European communities and their education is in vain
since they are not allowed to practice it in real life. The black Africans, according to him, are fit only for the laboring
market (Clark and Worger, 2011). Spotting light on the potency of lexical repetition to reveal the implied ideologies in
Obama's inaugural speech, Horvath (2009) found that the word "America" was utilized repetitively by Obama to
emphasize his inclusiveness and recognition of the American nation and American culture.
It could be observed that Mandela uses the words "wicked", in line 76, and "brutally", in line 79, to describe the unjust
and inhuman policies of the racial authorities. Utilizing such words, Mandela tries to direct the attention of his receivers
to the unrestricted domination of the ideology of white supremacy in a country which is inhabited by black majority.
According to Mandela, Bantu Education Bill is predominately aggressive as it confirms the feelings of inferiority in the
psyche of the black Africans (line 80). Emphasizing the feelings of inferiority which is deeply rooted in the very
structure of the black community, Mandela uses the word "inferior" three times in the speech (see lines 62,80,137). It
could be realized that the unjust nature of Bantu Education Bill implies that racial authorities are the only hand which
can decide whether a black child can have higher education or not (line 82). As a discriminatory and antagonistic
method practiced by the racial authorities against the black, the children whose families collaborate with the racial
government are allowed to obtain their higher education, whereas those children, whose families are opposed to the
government, are prohibited to have higher education. Thus, they are doomed to practice hard works on farms or in
mines (line 83).
Fredrickson (1982) states that the ideology of white supremacy, which paved the way for the domination of the white
minority over the black majority in South Africa, enabled the whites to control the minerals which were considered to
be the base of the industrial revolution. Controlling the mineral areas as well as planning to keep the Africans in poor
conditions, the racial authorities denied Africans their legitimate right to own land in areas occurring outside their
overcrowded reserves, a policy which established the patterns of racial discrimination and created the phenomenon of
black labor exploitation for the advantage of the white landlords and white economy. The strong desire of the whites to
own land and their rooted belief that the blacks are less fully human or they are no more than savages made them unable
to distinguish between basic rights and violations of human rights. They were on the firm conviction that enslaving
Africans and usurping their lands was part of their basic rights. By time they forced their will upon the overwhelming
black majority via master-slave relationship and imposed their absolute domination over all aspects of life for decades.
Burnell (2010), on his part, believes that the long-term and consistent measures of oppression, repression, injustice, and
negligence against the black for centuries have driven the blacks to suffer from intensifying feelings of inferiority
resulting in them having had low self-esteem, low self-worth, and low socio-economic status.
5.1.4 Argumentation
Example 4
40 The Congresses realised that these measures created a new situation which did not prevail when the
Campaign was launched in June 1952.
41 The tide of defiance was bound to recede and we were forced to pause and to take stock of the new
situation.
42 We had to analyse the dangers that faced us, formulate plans to overcome them and evolve new plans
of political struggle.
43 A political movement must keep in touch with reality and the prevailing conditions.
44 Long speeches, the shaking of fists, the banging of tables and strongly worded resolutions out of
touch with the objective conditions do not bring about mass action and can do a great deal of harm to
the organisation and the struggle we serve.
45 The masses had to be prepared and made ready for new forms of political struggle.
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 57
As a leader, Mandela, in this extract, gives his receivers two underlying justifications for the recession of the defiance
campaign which was launched in June 1952. The first is that the leaders of defiance campaign were in confrontation
with dangers which needed to be analyzed(line 42)("We had…faced us"). This justification reveals that Mandela has a
high level of self-awareness and social awareness. Self-awareness, according to Twain(2014), is a strategy through
which a person can determine his own strength and weaknesses. This strategy can help an individual to overcome his
weak points; it may also provide him with an opportunity to make him have positive influence on others. Social
awareness, on the other hand, reflects the ability of an individual to understand others. Mandela appears to be fully
aware of the causes behind the trauma that struck the defiance campaign. As a strategic leader, he, accordingly, tries to
set and develop new strategies for challenging the dangers that faced the persistent anti-racial struggle. Leadership,
according to Northhouse (2015), can be measured throughout self-awareness, charisma, as well as the sacrifices that
leaders should produce for the sake of their peoples' freedom.
The second justification behind the awkward situation of the defiance campaign, as diagnosed by Mandela, is that the
African National Congress, running the defiance campaign, lacked in realism (line 43). Mandela is of the view that the
leaders of the defiance campaign should not risk by embarking on unknown path during their struggle. According to
him, they have to practice realism and prudence in order to achieve the objectives of the struggle. Being a practical
leader, Mandela calls upon realism as a conscious approach of fighting the racial forces. He, therefore, criticizes the
lengthy bombastic speeches, shaking of fists, banging of tables, and rash resolutions which do not bring about a truly
positive change in the life of the oppressed black Africans (line 44 "Long speeches…worded resolutions"); rather, they
may lead to more harm and vulnerability to the African National Congress.
Delving into the aforementioned extract, it could be realized that Mandela attempts to implement political
incorporation, representation, and influence. He shows himself as a strategic and challenging leader who is able to
diagnose the points of weaknesses, and then he intends to remedy them through new forms and tactics of fighting.
Sampson(2011) characterizes four attributes for Mandela. They are: anticipation, challenging, interpretation, and
learning. Firstly, Mandela is skilled at anticipating future events that have something to do with present ones. Secondly,
he has profound willingness to sacrifice for the sake of his beliefs and he has extraordinary insistence on challenging,
by means of deed and action, those who have dehumanized and persecuted his people and denied them the legitimate
rights of freedom, dignity, and social equality. Thirdly, he shows great ability of interpreting the underlying objectives
of the racial policies. Fourthly, he always makes use of his past falls and experiences and never hesitates to learn from
the experiences and falls of others.
It could be realized that the defiance campaign, oppressed severely by the racial forces (line 40), came as a result of the
policies of discrimination and exclusion that black Africans had suffered for a long time. Hence, it is this feeling of
social and political exclusion which has created the division between "Us", the black Africans, and "Them", the racial
authorities.
Mandela, in the extract above, appears to be fully aware of the depth and nature of the constantly exclusionary policies
of the racial regime. Therefore, he works hard to mobilize the nation to defiance campaign through which they may
voice their resistance to all facets of exclusion. The increasingly oppressive measures of the racial forces have urged
Mandela and his comrades to formulate and develop the strategies of opposition (line 42 "…formulate plans…political
struggle").The feeling of being excluded, which he shares with his nation, has enabled him to address his people to be
prepared for new forms of battling (line 45). The policies of marginalization, according to Feldman (2006), are based
on either color, race, ethnicity, gender, or religion and results in a social and political dilemma or stigma.
5.1.5 Perspectivation
Example5
1 Since 1912 and year after year thereafter, in their homes and local areas, in provincial and national
gatherings, on trains and buses, in the factories and on the farms, in cities, villages, shanty towns,
schools and prisons, the African people have discussed the shameful misdeeds of those who rule the
country.
2 Year after year, they have raised their voices in condemnation of the grinding poverty of the people,
the low wages, the acute shortage of land, the inhuman exploitation and the whole policy of white
domination.
3 But instead of more freedom repression began to grow in volume and intensity and it seemed that all
their sacrifices would end up in smoke and dust.
It could be observed that Mandela, in the speech under investigation, attempts to report a series of significant incidents.
He appears to be highly careful in transmitting accurate and constructive information concerning the inhuman policies
of the racial governments. Harrington (1997) believes that that the term "report" can be used to refer to any
informational work designed to restate or reconsider certain events or realities in a concrete presentable form. Reports,
according to Harrington (1997), are significant because they are strong enough to display the results of one's own
experiment or investigation on the condition that the elements of credibility, neutrality, verification, and accuracy
should be available.
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 58
To achieve credibility and to evoke the emotional texture of his masses, Mandela reports about places and people in
documentary details. In line 1, for example, he gives the exact time when the African people have started inquiring
about the unscrupulous policies of the ruling authorities of South Africa, "Since the year 1912". Thompson (2000)
expresses that the formation of African National Congress in 1912 is a significant turning-point in the history of South
Africans. It was a response to the systematic operations of racial inequality and injustice exercised by the white racial
governments against the black Africans.
In line 2, he tries to focus not only on producing facts but also on creating involvement throughout these facts,
especially when he intensifies that South Africans' resentment and condemnation towards the cruel measures of the
racial governments have spread throughout the whole country (line 1 "….homes…school and prisons"). In in-depth
reporting, he identifies five causes which have contributed to incite the African masses against the racial authorities: the
abject poverty, the low wages of the African laborers, the shortage of land, the unjust exploitation of the Africans, and
the overall strategy of domination (line 2 "…..the grinding poverty…of domination"). To strengthen the social fabric of
the African masses and to connect them emotionally, he reports the fact that the measures of oppression and repression,
exercised by the racial authorities against the African people, have been intensified, (line 3). It could be recognized that
Mandela, in this extract, reports facts that should attract the attention of the masses and encourage them to make
decisions that may change their social and political realities.
6. Conclusion
Having looked carefully into Mandela's No Easy Walk to Freedom, it could be recognized that it was centered around
two contrasting underlying ideologies which are white superiority and black inferiority. White superiority was the
ideological foundation of the whites to sustain different policies of problematization, exclusion, and injustice which
controlled and shaped the social acts and practices of the black Africans for decades. Black inferiority, on the other
hand, was the ideological foundation of the blacks to maintain different forms of challenge and resistance against the
whites' measures of exploitation and domination. The social representation of blacks and whites, manifested in the
speech, was based on intensifying the bad characteristics and attributes of the whites (the out-group) and emphasizing
the good acts and characteristics of the blacks (the in-group).Mandela’s ideologies and ideological strategies, which are
evident in the speech under investigation, are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Ideologies and Strategies in Mandela's No Easy Walk to Freedom

Ideologies embedded in Mandela's discourse
White Superiority versus Black Inferiority
Mandela's Ideological Strategies and Devices
Actor Description Positive Other- Negative Other- Argumentation Perspectivation
(Identifying the in- Presentation Presentation (Justification) (Social and Political
group and the out- (In-group (Out-group exclusion or Inclusion)
group) Favoritism) Derogation)
• Utilizing the •Showing a sense •Utilizing irony •Developing • Reporting incidents
pronoun Us and of self-glorification to sarcastically self and social on the unjust policies
Them to polarize the by referring to the describe the awareness by of the apartheid to
blacks heroic anti-racial racially double- justifying the create involvement by
• Utilizing numbers response of the standard points of evoking theemotional
and statistics to blacks and praising measures of the weakness of texture of the blacks.
stress interest in the their rising level of whites towards the blacks'
status quo issues of consciousness the black anti-racial
the blacks toward the racial workers defiance
• Presupposing the policies •Utilizing campaign
threats of the racial specific lexemes
measures to the life to highlight the
and dignity of the tragedies of the
blacks blacks
• Employing vague
superlative forms of
adjectives to show
bias to the blacks
(the ingroup)
Two groups of actors can be identified in the speech under analysis. One group (i.e. the in-group), whom Mandela
joined and backed, was represented by the black Africans who endeavored tirelessly to gain freedom, self-
determination, empowerment, and liberation although they had faced severe and pitiless measures of oppression and
injustice. The second group (i.e. the out-group) was represented by the racial authorities who sought to impose their
domination over the blacks. To maintain a linguistic and semiotic image whereby he could mobilize his receivers,
IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 59
Mandela employed the pronoun "Us" to confirm a high sense of inclusion and unification with the in-group,
manipulated numbers to achieve credibility and reliability, used vague expressions to indicate bias in favor of the in-
group, and made reference to authority figures to back his information and opinions. Via the strategy of actor
description, Mandela produced evidences of the bad attributes and acts of the out-group members (for instance, when he
made a reference to their oppressive policies, such as " The Public Safety Act", in 1953, by means of which the
government was empowered to take any oppressive measure against the anti-racial resistance movements, and "The
Criminals Laws Amendment Act" which imposed heavy penalties on those who were convicted of defiance offences).
Through the strategy of positive self-presentation, Mandela attempted to deepen the relation between him and his
audience by polarizing their cognition on the racial policies of the white government, glorifying their development of
political awareness towards the policies of racial segregation, and comparing their legitimate and heroic acts with the
illegitimate and cruel acts of the racial authorities.
In an attempt to present the out-group negatively, Mandela highlighted the tragedies and misfortunes inflicted upon the
black people by the racial authorities who had practiced different measures of dehumanization and boundless policies of
domination. An example of the dehumanizing measures of the racial state was the "Bantu Education Bill" which
restrained the black children to complete their education believing that they were not fit for education as much as for the
labor market. It could be recognized that Mandela, via the strategy of negative other-presentation, deplored the ideology
of white supremacy which echoed a glaring violation of human rights and dignities.
Through the strategy of argumentation, Mandela developed a sense of self-awareness, identifying one's own positions of
weakness and strength, and social-awareness, the ability of an individual to understand others, while he attempted to set
justifications for the recession of the defiance campaign. Showing himself a pragmatic and strategic leader who was
able to diagnose the weaknesses of the in-group and prescribed a remedy for them, Mandela called for a conscious
approach of fighting the racial state wherein realistic tactics and strategies were to be adopted. By means of the strategy
of argumentation, Mandela emphasized the concept of political and social exclusion. He appeared to be fully aware of
the depth and nature of the racial exclusionary policies which denied the black population any political or social
representation. Political and social exclusion, as a paradigmatic form of injustice, revealed unequal relationship
between the dominated, the black, and the dominator, the racial authorities; a relationship that was based on a deep-
rooted ideology of white supremacy and black inferiority.
Using the strategy of perspectivation, Mandela reported details of incidents with the purpose of creating involvement.
The incidents that he reported were about the unjust measures of the racial state. Reporting them could have helped him
to strengthen the social fabric of the blacks and get them engaged in the racial inequalities and injustices that were
practiced by white authorities. In addition to involvement that this strategy might result in, reporting, as a popular
technique of discourse incorporating a high sense of credibility, neutrality, verification, and accuracy, may have helped
to consolidate the relationship between Mandela and his masses.
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IJALEL 5(5):49-61, 2016 61
Appendix
Table 1. Ideological Themes in Mandela's No Easy Walk To Freedom

Ideological Analytical Techniques
Themes
Freedom Lexical Repetition
freedom (lines 3,19, 55, 90, 102, 108, 162, 171, 174)
Meaning Relations
Synonymous Nouns :awakening= consciousness (line 5)
Antonymous Nouns: freedom (line 171) x oppression ( line 157), liberation x repression (line104)
Defiance Lexical Repetition
defiance (lines 12, 22, 26, 30, 32, 41, 49, 52), indignation (lines 14, 106, 165)
Meaning Relation
Synonymous Nouns: discontent (line 100) = indignation (106)
Antonymous Adjectives: conquered x uncompromising (line 16)
Oppression Lexical Repetition

oppressed (lines: 101, 107, 116, 117, 162), inhuman (lines 2,108, 140)
Meaning Relation
Synonymous Adjectives: ruthless = pitiless ( line 29), insane (line 65) = obnoxious (line 74)= sinister (line
88) = harsh (line 105) = stinking (line 109) = inhuman ( line 140) = barbaric (line140) = criminal (1ine
163)
Antonymous Nouns: oppression (line 156) x freedom (line 3), repression x liberation (104)
Hyponyms: suppression (line 33), unemployment (line 62), hunger (line 69),exploitation (line 88),
repression (line 104), discrimination (line 162), slaughter (line 165), massacre (line 166), atrocities (line
170)
Supremacy Lexical Repetition

supremacy (lines: 93, 95, 96, 97)
Meaning Relation
Hyponyms: suppression (line 33), unemployment (line 62), hunger (line 69), exploitation (line 88),
repression (line 104), oppression (line 157), discrimination (162), slaughter (line 165), massacre (line
166),atrocities (line 170)
Conceptual Translation:
Script Theory over Equivalence Theory
Naser N. AlBzour
English Department, Al AlBayt University, Jordan

Abstract
Unlike most translation studies that mainly focus on describing problematic areas and issues translators oftentimes
encounter and thus suggesting or even prescribing some practical solutions and techniques, this study essentially targets
the conceptual mechanism that can to some extent explain possible choices made by translators and students of
translation. Therefore, this paper is by no means an endeavor to provide any translation assessment or any pedantic
instructions of methods and strategies to follow; rather, the researcher has explicitly endeavored to offer some insights
into understanding the symptoms and rationales of making choices while translating any text, based on translators’
schematic behavior that can be best tackled by script theory that shoots far beyond the mere semantic and pragmatic
constraints. The study, therefore, attempts to extend the scope of translation studies from the traditional domains of
cultural studies and applied linguistics interests into a higher intermediate Sweetserian conceptual analysis of pragmatic
behavior and ultimately into some more comprehensive Schankean schematic paradigms.
Keywords: Conceptualization, pragmatics, schematic, Schank, script theory, semantics, semiotics, Sweetser
1. Introduction
Any modern descriptively nondogmatic theory of linguistics would admit that meaning is not in any sense nor to any
extent isomorphic and that semantics and pragmatics as two major disciplines play a vitally integrated role in setting the
major landmarks of analyzing and interpreting any meaningful text although the focus, the tools and the scope can be
evidently different. The former pays full attention to the shape and content of the textual units as such whether they are
words, phrases, sentences or volumes of books; while the latter is primarily concerned with how to relate these textual
units to a multitude of contextual factors and components that ultimately shift the content of such texts into intended
interplay and channeled force as it has been expounded since the early dawn of the twentieth century by some
semioticians like Morris (1964), Jakobson (1959), Johansen (2005), et al.; philosophers like Austin (1962) and Grice
(1975) and more elaborately examined at later stages by many other semanticists and pragmaticians such as Leech
(1980), Leech (1983), Yule (2000), Geeraerts (2009), et al.
Therefore, various layers of meaning can be incorporated while analyzing any text and thus different understandings
may arise, on the one hand, as a result of the divergence between the semantic content itself as it can be represented
lexically and sententially or the pragmatic function and the manipulated effect intended by the user as performed in
utterances, on the other hand (see Horn 2006). In other words, “From what we now know about the nature of meaning, a
hybrid or modular account seems inescapable; there remains the hope that with two components, a semantics and a
pragmatics working in tandem, each can be built on relatively homogeneous and systematic line” (Levinson, 1983:15).
So truly recognized and eminent breakthroughs in the field of cognitive linguistics with indubitably acknowledged
research interest in semantics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics and even historical linguistics have contributed to
broadening the scope of translation studies that can be accordingly inclined to investigating the dynamism of semiotic
aspects of language in general and the pragmatic implications of these premises within vivid synchronic linguistics
perspectives. Thus, it is clear why and how Yule (2000, 3) perceives pragmatics as a discipline that “refers to the study
of meaning in interaction or meaning in context, exploring how linguistic utterances could be interpreted differently as a
result of different contextual forces and communicative goals”.
2. Eve Sweetser on Cognition
The predominant logic and the linguistic framework of such non-formalist analyses seem cogently and smoothly
presented in a challenging, yet not so complicated sort of argument for specialists or even hardworking undergraduate
students who are familiar with basic premises of cognitive studies, which can be more often than not philosophically as
well as linguistically encapsulated succinctly in recent research argument and counterargument. Such a salient
argumentation conveniently goes in parallel with the expectations of readers’ linguistic competence as well as the level
of the schematic register which captures the technicality of this advanced linguistic domain which might seem
philosophical to many non-specialists.
IJALEL 5(5):62-69, 2016 63
One may discern the significance of the cognitive perspective of understanding the systematic nature of language vis-à-
vis our sophisticated processing of our cognition. Therefore, any relevant approach can be basically perceived within
the framework of cognitive semantics and cognitive pragmatics that can precisely an adequately handle a number of
areas such as polysemy, lexical choices and pragmatic appropriateness in translation. This gives rise to the questions
about the relationship between the acquired sense and other newly associated senses behind any translation choice or
choices.
On the other hand, the scope of such interests may capture what determinants of synonymous or polysemous
considerations rather than homonymous ones can thus intervene. As well, this ensures the relevance of what pragmatic
implications behind drifting particular forms from their semantic import can be. These questions should be born in mind
all through any pertinent study to precisely perceive the purport how such explicit regularities behind these meaningful
choices operate; a matter that is not acknowledged by objectivists, whose premise of truth condition of the real world is
pushed to the extreme against the linguistic cognitive structure (see B. AlBzour 2016).
Apparently, that is why conceptual factors must be always stressed in any semantics and pragmatics theory upon which
translation studies may primarily hinge. Therefore, it would be beneficial to integrate both the synchronic and the
diachronic aspects as inseparable variables of analysis since there should be always an intermediate stage where ‘A’
goes to ’B’ in a systematic way that gradually ends up with the existence of ‘B’. this type of conceptualization can be
literally and metaphorically rationalized, bearing in mind that random metamorphosis is by no means possible or
plausible since language is a unique system within which variables should operate systematically by default.
This does not, of course, contrast with Saussurean assumptions of the arbitrariness of the linguistic system since the
arbitrary manifestation is confined to the conventional constituents of the language i.e the orthographical or the
phonological presentation of the signifier with respect to the real world content of the signified (cf. B AlBzour 2016).
However, the shared motivated meaning can be never understood in light of such arbitrary chaos. This can be best
exemplified in the arbitrary relationship between the verb “see” in its real world where vision is not associated with the
shape or the sound of the letters “s”, “e” and “e”, while it is systematically suitable to associate “see” with its new
metaphorical senses in human cognition (Sweetser 1990).
In the same vein, the pragmatic dimension can be better understood in lines of an experientalist cognitive approach that
is epistemically rationalized. Thus, it is logical to ruling out any formalist or deterministic approach of semantic
analysis to cater for possible interpretations in question because the former advocates rather abstract mathematical
analysis of the linguistic system while the latter hinges upon the idiosyncratic aspects of cultural impact on meaning and
cognition. Hence, these approaches obviously fall short to explicate the dynamic nature of the pragmatic speech acts of
utterances within their real world. Furthermore, one may explain denial of such approaches of traditional semantics
ranging between feature analysis and field analysis. Undenying their merits, one can demonstrate how they can be very
limited in proposing a satisfactorily comprehensive approach to a translation theory.
The researcher opts for overtly preferable cognitive approaches that can be much better presenting a feasible argument
of meaning and meaning theory. Therefore, Sweetser (1990, 16) argues, “I intend to describe and motivate
generalizations which cannot be described in terms of objective features or logical truth values”. Sweetser’s outstanding
vision surpasses her mere analysis to encompass not only the Indo-European languages, but it can be also extended to a
theory of universal semantics. Unlike formal feature-based semantics which cannot “account for observed regularities”,
cognitive analyses, cannot only describe the observed meaning patterns, but motivate and explain them in a natural and
elegant way (B. AlBzour 2016). For instance, one of the crucial and maybe primitive attempts in this regard has the
directionality of justifying why the interest in semantic change had not been acknowledged until recently unlike the
phonological change.
Phonological changes used to look more systematic and easily traced, where as semantic changes used to be thought of
as ‘random whimsical and irregular’. The process of tracing semantic changes requires more profound analyses to
unveil the cognitive and metaphorical mapping beyond the simplistic analysis of semantic feature. However, this does
not underestimate recent works that reflect evolutionary directions in historical linguistics from ‘less situated to more
situated’. However, the researcher may persist that the goal after all in this paper is to increase our general
understanding of not only semantic relations but also and ultimately cognitive schemes.
To grasp the idea of systematicity of cognitive schemes with relevance to our internal cognitive structure, one may refer
to the doubts cast around the evident regularities of sound changes which had been refuted till the Neogrammarians set
these parameters of such regularities. Hence, lots of arguments have tried to exemplify and elucidate the
‘interconnections’ among semantic domains which apparently reveal the potential reconstruction based on regular
structuring. This regular structuring is inherently latent within the metaphorical parameters of the linguistic system itself
(Lakoff and Johnson, 1999).
3. From Sweetser to Schank
Through our step by step argument, it would be rational to refer to English perception verbs with their potential internal
mapping within our cognitive paradigm, drawing upon Kurath’s (1921) observations concerning some physical body
aspects and their correlative symbolism of certain emotional reflexes. Therefore, the heart’s physical function of
pumping blood is undeniably associated with the upheaval of our emotions such as love, hatred, fear, courage and
passion. Accordingly, this inspired Sweetser (1990) to incorporate the physiological analyses of interpreting the link-up
between different emotional states and physical changes; thus color can comparatively reflect our emotional reaction.
IJALEL 5(5):62-69, 2016 64
This cognitive perspective has led Lakoff and Johnson (1999) Traugott (1990) and Sweetser (1990) and others to deeply
explore how the “correlations between our external experience and our internal emotional and cognitive states” can
explicitly portray the ‘mind as body metaphor’, as well as an extension of interactive mapping (Sweetser ibid, 30).
Consequently, this can explain some interrelations between ‘concrete verbs’ and their extended abstract senses of
perception verbs cross-linguistically.
Therefore, we can map out the sources of perception verbs in English and how these verbs constitute their target
domains. For example, the metaphor of physical sight captures the domain of knowledge and intellection in some
expressions like “I saw it with my own eyes” to indicate enough degree of certainty because of the certainty of visual
data and visual knowledge, and this can reveal the directionality of semantic change from concrete to abstract and from
physical to mental with different degrees of associations in various world languages although one must admit that the
tendency sometimes may operate in a reverse direction (B. AlBzour 2016).
In the following section, therefore, it is worth considering to rationalize and thus posit a unifying pattern that may
underlie the linkage between these physical and mental domains that stress the operational roles and processes in the
mind (Johnson 1987). Thus, we may note that vision and intellect can be associated to each other in their domains
because of the salient common features between vision and thought rather than any other physical senses. The prime
rationale behind this claim is that vision is the main source of objective data about the surroundings unlike olfactory and
auditory stimuli that cannot be denied though, (cf. Johnson 1987).
However, one needs to modify this piece of argument to be more consistent and more convincing. There might seem
some inaccuracy in our purport in the sense that the previous argument excludes a wide range of physically ‘sight-
underprivileged’ or blind people, who were born without ‘vision’, yet it is not ‘impossible’ for them to develop a
compensatory sense which is vision-like to some extent yet it is not. This would be more coherent and go much in
harmony with the argument about the predominant assumptions in ancient cultures that “physical blindness was
considered to be concomitant of the highest level of internal vision”. (Sweetser 1990: 40).
On the other hand, the cognitive argument concerning the communicative and subjective internal self of the perception
verb “hear” seems more cogent. This can link the auditory physical channeling to a mental activity. This auditory
activity more often than not reflects a deep relation between “hearing” and “heedfulness”, on the one hand as in “ I can
hear” which means “I can understand”, or more obviously in “ not to be deaf to someone’s argument”. One can
maintain that hearing, on the other hand, can be used to express obedience and subjection. This internal receptivity of
the verb seems more universal since it finds echoes in Hebrew Old Testament and other Semitic languages such as
Arabic- as far as the researcher knows as a native speaker of Arabic as it can be manifest in the Arabic collocation “ ‫ﺍﻟﺴﻤﻊ‬
‫”ﻭ ﺍﻟﻄﺎﻋﺔ‬, i.e. literally hearing and obedience, which may go far beyond the structural forms into a conceptual interactive
frame that may envisage how the mind accordingly works (Pinker 1997).
The regularity of such conceptual semantic reconstruction can be evidently seen in the very fact that the distribution of
the internal and external correlation is systematically mapped out. Verbs such as see and hear can overlap to a certain
extent to convey communicative features of understanding. In addition, other verbs of perception such as smell and
touch can less frequently develop metaphorical associations with the mental domain to encompass meanings such as
know and understand. This assumption can be valid in English and other Indo-European languages, yet it would be less
accurate in some Semitic languages because a verb like touch can be used in such intellectual domains in Arabic.
Thereby, we can smoothly move into another domain of interrelations between different cognitive domains by
oscillating between the real world denotation of the root the epistemic counterparts ranging between what can be
understood as an obligation in one case and probability in another. Thus, the epistemic meanings of many lexical items
tend to show kinship to the physical world and epistemic world. This very metaphorical presentation of implication of
modality creates what Sweetser deems as pragmatic ambiguity in some instances where the modal ‘must’ is used to
express obligation in once case and possibility in another instance.
This phenomenon seems to be somehow universal among related and unrelated languages such as Indo-European,
Semitic, Dravidian, Mayan etc. The extension from the root to the epistemic meaning seems systematic and can be
evidently traced in children’s speech in language acquisition (see Kuczaj and Daly 1979). This close realization can
reveal the intricate correlation between the world outside and our conceptual world inside. This mapping, therefore,
springs from the socio-physical to the epistemic spheres in a closely related regular sense. No wonder then that any
similar cognitive processing at any linguistic level follows symmetrical mapping, so these “symmetrical mapping
strategies can be identified cognitively as a result of meaning radiation, meaning infusion and diffusion” (AlBzour B.
2016, 97).
Force dynamics (Talmy 1985) has rigorous impacts on basic analysis of the semantics of root modality in terms of
lexical content that presents the physical and the social aspects of forces and barriers that explain the root function of
words like modals. Consequently, it can be maintained that ‘must’ and ‘may’ can show the influence of such force
dynamics of completely different forces since ‘may’ has the least barrier restriction while ‘must’ shows a great extent of
choice restriction and excluding alternatives of interlocutors. On the other hand, ‘can’ may overlap with ‘may’ to some
extent, but that overlap can be intuitively recognized since ‘can’ denotes the doer’s positive ability while ‘may’ is
related to ‘the lack of restriction on the part of someone else’, (Sweetser 1982). Such assumptions and analyses by
extension can wider encompass discoursal aspects of meaning, (cf. Jackendoff 1990 & 1996).
IJALEL 5(5):62-69, 2016 65
To move some steps further, one may differentiate between other modals sharing similar force dynamics of obligation
namely ought to, have to and need to which resemble ‘must’ in a sense. The differences between these three modals are
of course deemed in terms of the degree of obligation each one denotes, so ‘ought to’ has the least obligatory value
compared to the most obligatory modal ‘must’. In addition, the source of obligation can be different: morally or socially
in ‘ought to’, extrinsically imposed authority as in ‘have to’ and internal to the doer himself as in ‘need. Other root
modals are treated and analyzed by in light of Palmer’s (1979) and Lakoff’s (1971) on the basis of intuitive evaluation
covering a wide range of modality such as futurity, necessity, obligation, condition and volition.
Given that in our rudimentary analysis, the researcher moves forward in his assumption that meaning must apply
beyond the epistemic world: “epistemic modality is metaphorically viewed as that the real-world which is its closest
parallel in force dynamic-structure” (Sweetser 1990, 59). Therefore, our understanding of the socio-physical barriers is
closely related to the mapping of the metaphorical structure of our reasoning processes. However, this metaphorical
mapping is not alien to the real world root of modality. They are both interrelated to some extent, and the epistemic
aspects are not autonomous from the root counterparts. Hence, the obligatory root modal ‘must’ in ‘you must be at
school’ can clearly tell us that ‘must’ in ‘I must conclude that…’ extends this sense of socio-physical obligation to
encompass the epistemic force in our cognitive structure and schematic perception, (cf. Silva 2003).
By the same token, similar but more complicated analyses of speech act verbs and speech act modality tend to be
concise and precise as well by delineating and reiterating the basic landmarks of three domains: content domain,
epistemic domain and speech interaction domain. It is unanimously agreed upon in pragmatics that conversational
world and conventional world are two different entities though the former is an extension of the latter, exactly like the
extension of the epistemic world relates to the real world. The argument for script dynamics can be extended about the
realization of the three integral domains (content, epistemic and conversational) semantically and discoursally.
4. Data Analysis and Discussion
4.1 Conceptual Translation
Therefore, the researcher insists that any plausible interpretation of any text should take into consideration the
contextual factors that can give rise to the multi-aspect status and functions of any utterance while demonstrating the
multilayer interpretation in causal or resultative relations that can be simply interpreted within the concrete-content
domain, so any correct interpretation does not rely on form; rather it depends on discoursally motivated choices
between textual and contextual components of the script in question.
Again and again, the focal point of this argument moves smoothly through presenting some data buttressing the
researcher’s claims concerning the necessity of differentiating between and coping with these aforementioned domains
with particular emphasis on the crucial role of the pragmatic domain, of course, which indubitably crystallizes the
multi-layers of different speech forces. A good portion of such an argument at this level goes in concordance with the
current semiotics and cognitive trends (Lakoff and Johnson 1999, Lakoff 2002, AlBzour, N. 2011, et al).
What is needed goes beyond the naïve truth value to more vividly motivated conversational output. For instance, the
analysis of the operating conditionality in relevant domains is more convincing more often that not, though it might be
intriguing sometimes to postulate that some assumptions are exclusively distinct or felicitously not overlapping because
it is unreasonable to establish any conventionally logical or conversational implicature between any two propositions
although both of them may look appropriately valid at the face value in terms of truth condition.
The anomaly emanates from the irrationally implied within the script itself due to the possibility of an interpretable
complicated contextualization of the same utterance in the epistemic domain. Interestingly enough, a spectrum of
speech acts that govern real conversation in addition to other pragmatic premises based on fundamental assumptions
proposed by great scholars have crucially intervened such as Austin (1961), Searle (1969), Grice (1975), Vanderveken
1985 et al). The narrow views of traditional semantic assumptions fall short to account for a number of dynamic aspects
of the metaphorical behavior of language.
The implications of all the aforementioned linguistic arguments may give rise to explicate the lucid role that script
theory can play while elaborating on some cognitive aspects that tend to explain how translation theory should
capitalize on such cognitive approaches (see N. AlBzour and B. AlBzour 2015 & N. AlBzour 2011). There is no doubt
that script theory was launched as a psychological endeavor based on understanding human’s behavior beyond the
primitive stimulus response patterns so that maximal effects of a positive value can be achieved at the expense of
negative ones as it can be presented in a sequence of events technically termed as scenes (Schank 1975). This is the
essence of employing frames in renconstructing contextual factors and establishing some situational interaction as
proposed by Schank and Abelson (1977). Such interesting hypotheses do consider conceptual transitions that combine
both mental and physical ones and thus allow humans to organize knowledge and meaning as such in light of perceiving
the way knowledge can be distributed and decomposed situationally (Tomkins 1987).
The vast bulk of translation studies have handled millions of issues in translation theory on the basis of textual
components at the lexical level, sentential level and wider textual levels as if translation were a quest for equivalence
whether it be formal, functional, dynamic or cultural in traditional terms (see Nida 1964, Catford 1965, Newmark
1988); so these studies have targeted the text itself whether source or target in their analysis, their argument and their
assessment or evaluation. This study, on the contrary, is not an attempt to criticize or evaluate the quality of any
translation, nor to propose strategies and methods of translation nor to support or retort any argument that deals with
critiquing renditions and proposing solutions for translators.
IJALEL 5(5):62-69, 2016 66
Rather, the researcher is trying to diagnose translation competence not translation performance. This can be attained if
we examine some renditions and try to explore how internal relations within the target texts can or cannot match the
source text; and thus to what extent these similarities or differences can be approached in light of our dynamic
schematic behavior that best reflects substantially intrinsic cognitive processing of meaning networks in terms of script
forms and script functions unlike many traditional performance-based studies (see Nida and Taber 1969, Newmark
1981, Sebeok 2003 et al).
Therefore, the significance of script theory is innumerably permeating and it can cater for hosts of major issues in the
fields of artificial intelligence, linguistics and education (Schank 1975, 1982 and 1986). Thus, deeming knowledge and
information as schematic units allows the learner to fill in the blank slots based on stereotyped and anticipated
structures and interaction of his/her world knowledge that can be relatively certain, or even tentative within the
limitations of three overlapping areas: active, focused and interactive.
This very logical assumption can lend itself to our perception of events because of the episodic nature of our memories
as they rely on our own personal experiences and expectations and this allows us not only to understand the texts but
also to make inferences and predictions (Schank 1996). One of the most popular examples that has been thoroughly
investigated and circulated is Schank’s ‘restaurant script’ where a number of scenes collectively make up and facilitate
conceptualizing this script where various components and processes exist and interact serially and parallelly such as the
concrete place itself, all the objects inside, the possible scenarios, the participants as well as the adequacy of the client’s
own experience (cf. Schank 1991, Schank and Cleary 1995, et al).
4.2 Translation in Scripts
Any cognitively and discoursally-oriented treatise should bank on fathoming the structure and the mechanism of world
knowledge that may surpass the boundaries of semantics and pragmatics because semantics is like a car that needs an
engine; this engine is equivalent to pragmatics. However, the vehicle would never be in service without wheels, and this
is tantamount to our schematic knowledge that can never operate effectively if ever without the gas of scripts! Such a
nontraditional approach has its bearings in semiotically-oriented cognitive studies where “the rudimentary pursuits for
fabricated sorts of perfect equivalents or semi-equivalents are doomed to utter failure unless the whole text is
communicatively taken as a single micro-sign that operates within a wider macro-sign and sign system in totality” (B.
AlBzour and N. AlBzour 2015).
To substantiate the argumentation this study has tackled, the researcher has tried to examine a recent authentic case that
can fuel the validity of this paper’s assumptions and may consequently trigger a considerable amount of future research
and experimentation in the field of translation studies as well as interdisciplinary studies of thematic relevance. In this
brief section, the empirical part this researcher has exploited was extracted from a translation exam conducted one
month ago in April 2016. Forty five BA students, juniors and seniors, have been officially tested as part of their Spring
second achievement examinations. The students were given a short English journalese text that went viral through
social media and international news agencies a week before administering this exam. The examinees, whose native
language is Arabic, were asked to translate the seven-line English text into idiomatic standard Arabic and they were
allowed to use any hardcopies of English-English dictionaries to exclude any odd lexical unfamiliarity that may block
the understandability of the source text.
The results and the renditions were graded, examined and analyzed for the sake of future research endeavors. Here is
the headline used as a title for this text: "An Iranian Man was Sentenced to 74 Lashes for Killing a Dog"! The whole
body of the text simply describes how an Iranian man hurled a dog against his car several times and the strict sentence
for 74 lashes this man underwent in return, no more no less! Almost all the renditions show a systematic cognitive
tendency through which choices can be anticipated based on the totality of relevant events that such scripts consist of
even when wrong choices were made. For the sake of clarity and consistency, the morpho-syntactic choices have been
ignored and/or neutralized in all these renditions because they neither add nor take.
It has been noticed that these renditions reflect how these students have relied on their wholistic schematic competence
rather than their lexical repertoire of their lexicons. Therefore, three students rendered the headline into “ ‫ﺭﺟﻞ ﺃﻟﻤﺎﻧﻲ ﻣﺤﻜﻮﻡ‬
‫ ﻻﺷﺎﺕ‬74 ‫”ﺏ‬. The first aspect of such script saliency is the mistranslation of ‘Iranian’ into ‘‫ ’ﺃﻟﻤﺎﻧﻲ‬instead of ‘‫’ﺇﻳﺮﺍﻧﻲ‬
because of the phonological similarity of the script of the last syllable that exhibits the genitive morpheme in Arabic. In
addition, the schematic scenario of passing a sentence helped such students and others to fill in with expected kinds of
punishment even if it might look nonsensical, so these three students completed the scripts with transliterating the word
‘lashes’ into Arabic ‘‫ ’ﻻﺷﺎﺕ‬which can be understood as a kind of punishment although vague or meaningless.
On the other hand, eight students ignored the script of the word ‘sentence’ and concentrated on the script of the word
‘kill’. Typically, the act of killing an animal can be fulfilled in many different scenarios, so these students precisely
translated ‘kill’ into ‘‫ ’ﻳﻘﺘﻞ‬without showing any serious problem apart from modifying the past tense of the ST into
present in the TL. The conceptualization of this aggressive act of cruelty triggers an erroneous connection between the
act itself and the manner of killing, so the sentence itself vanished and the number of lashes has been deemed and filled
with the same number of ‘cutting into seventy four pieces’, i.e. ‘‫ ’ﻭ ﻳﻘﻄّﻌﻪ ﺃﺭﺑﻌﺔ ﻭ ﺳﺒﻌﻮﻥ ﻗﻄﻌﺔ‬instead of rendering ‘seventy
four lashes’, which might make some sense in its totality as a full script where this sequence of acts can be accordingly
expected in similar contexts.
Moreover, nine students show a tendency to alternate their expectations via conceptualizing the verdictive act of this
judiciary sentence into another predictable event as a period of time, so they rendered it as “‫”ﻳﺤﻜﻢ ﺏ ﺃﺭﺑﻊ ﻭ ﺳﺒﻌﻴﻦ ﺳﻨﺔ‬, i.e.
IJALEL 5(5):62-69, 2016 67
‘the man was sentenced for seventy four years’, which is quite logical and coherent for any sentence to be for a short or
a long period of years in the context of crime-penalty scripts; however, what might look quite non-feasible and less
coherent is passing such a long term sentence of imprisonment for killing a dog, not murdering a human being in the
third world not in Switzerland!
More strikingly, four students exhibit a confused cognitive processing of the mental picture that represents ‘death’. The
death script is almost universal in most of its scenarios as a cessation of one’s life although the manifestations of death
can vary from one culture to another where death can be portrayed as an end of one phase and the beginning of another
in some cultures; one’s first and last doom in other cultures or even a transformation in a pantheistic sense in some other
cultures. However, these four students show a bizarre cognitive behavior as they translated ‘sentenced into 74 lashed’
into ‘’. This rendition reveals how these students converted the script of ’74 lashes’ into a non-logical script of ‘death
sentence for 74 times’; it might be argued that ‘cats have nine lives’ metaphorically, yet no sane person would ever
think of a human being with seventy four lives!
More coherently, six students retrieved their scripts that may portray the scenarios of some folk tales about packs of
wild dogs that may attack people in the wilderness. Therefore, these students ignored all the previous scripts an even
reversed some of the participants’ roles, so they translated the sentence into their script-based form and analysis as ‘’,
i.e. an ‘Iranian man killed 74 dogs that attacked him’, so the man plays the role of an agent who executed death against
dogs instead of being himself an experiencer or the patient of the penalty. In addition, these students disposed with the
number of lashes and replaced it with the number of dogs to fit in the slots of their alternative script’s components!
Another group of seven students also manipulated the thematic roles within the text in a different way so that the scrip
texture would not collapse while mentally processed. Therefore, they translated the headline into ‘ ‫ﺭﺟﻞ ﺇﻳﺮﺍﻧﻲ ﻳﻘﺘﻞ ﻛﻠﺐ ﺑﺠﻠﺪﻩ‬
‫’ﺃﺭﺑﻊ ﻭ ﺳﺒﻌﻴﻦ ﺟﻠﺪﺓ‬, i.e. ‘an Iranian man killed a dog by lashing it 74 times’! Again, the man plays the role of the agent
while the dog remains the patient that has undergone the act of lashing which in turn shows the manner or the
instrument of death according to this script.
What goes contrary to most logical expectations yet reflects schematic problems is the rendition opted for by three
students as they mixed two opposite scenarios in one single script and this may trigger humorous effects! These
students translated the given text into ‘‫’ﺍﻟﺤﻜﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺭﺟﻞ ﺇﻳﺮﺍﻧﻲ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﻮﺕ ﺃﺭﺑﻌﺔ ﻭ ﺳﺒﻌﻮﻥ ﺳﻨﺔ‬, i.e. ‘an Iranian was sentenced to death
for 74 years’! Such a rendition can be really deemed as a joke, yet it can explicitly reveal how the script of ‘sentence’
entails death as one unit as it can be realized in the phrase ‘death sentence’. So far so good; however, it seems it was
hard for these students to remerge the script of ‘74 lashes’ which they misconceptualized as ‘74 years’, so a paradoxical
result humorously surfaced as ‘death for 74 years’!
Finally, only five students were able to show some lexical and thematic expectations and correspondence between the
source scripts and the target scripts as they more appropriately translated the text into ‘ ‫ﺍﻟﺤﻜﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺭﺟﻞ ﺇﻳﺮﺍﻧﻲ ﺑﺄﺭﺑﻊ ﻭ ﺳﺒﻌﻴﻦ‬
‫’ﺟﻠﺪﺓ ﻟﻘﺘﻠﻪ ﻛﻠﺒﺎ‬. This rendition can clearly envisage how these students successfully managed to retrieve their own
conceptual scenarios and how they smoothly tailored them into logical script relations.
5. Conclusion
To sum up, the researcher has addressed the issue of deliberate choices made by translators and students of translation
in light of their conceptual abilities to read, analyze and render source texts. It has been found that such renditions
whether appropriate, less appropriate, inappropriate or even wrong can clearly display the logical mechanism that these
translators would implement based on their schematic knowledge to translate scripts into scripts not words into words
nor sentences into sentences. These SL scripts sometimes help translators fill in the gaps when lexical or cultural
problems surface; nonetheless, other scripts can lead translators to make wrong choices because of processing the
events and the scenarios of given texts from source language perspectives when such scripts comparatively mismatch
their counterparts in the target language partially or fully. Such an argument this paper highlights and advocates overtly
goes in an antagonistic spirit against the traditional views that depict translation as a simplistic process of finding lexical
equivalence between the SL and the TL because choices are deliberately made based on sequential and consequential
events within each script and between scripts themselves.
Acknowledgement
The introductory section in this paper has neatly paved the way for the subsequent script argument in all the following
sections; this paper could have never been systematically presented this way if it had not been for the insightful remarks
generously offered to the author by Dr. Baseel AlBzour, one of the best specialists in this field of Sweetserianism.
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The Narrative Structure and Rhetorical Elements in

The Companions of Cave
Muzammir Anas (Corresponding author)
Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
Nur Salina Ismail

Radzuwan Ab Rashid
Zulazhan Ab Halim
Badri Najib Zubir

Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia
Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract
This paper discusses the structural narrative and rhetorical aspects as well as the correlation found between the two
elements in the English version of the story ‘The Companions of Cave’. This story is unfolded in Surah al-Kahf (The
Cave) in the Qur’an. It aims to reveal various aspects of rhetorical styles used in the story. In addition, the narrative
structure for each plot is further examined, and the rhetorical elements are explored to reveal its beauty, refinement and
subtlety, as well as its function and role in supporting the narrative structure. To achieve these objectives, the study
deliberated both its linguistic and situational contexts to reveal its congruency within the narrative elements, and offer
explanation on why it appears to be so in the Qur’an.
Keywords: narrative, rhetoric, linguistic, Ashab al-Kahf, The Companions of Cave
1. Introduction
The Companions of Cave (Ashab al-Kahf) is a story about a group of youths who fled into a cave with their pet dog.
This was an attempt to escape from a despotic ruler who wanted to execute them because of their faith in Allah. Inside
the cave, they underwent a miraculous process of hibernation and slept for 309 years. Their bodies were preserved and
upon waking up, they neither aged nor were ill. It was as though they had fallen asleep for a short while. They remained
unaware of their situation until one of the youths went to a nearby town in search of food. The story of these youths has
since become a widely held discussion among people and remains so to this day.
The story presented in the Qur’an begins with the basic question to arouse the readers’ interest with Have you thought.
This reminds the reader that the story is a sign of the power of Allah (Al-Khalidi, 1989, p.34) that sheds the truth of the
message and the prophethood of Muhammad (As-Suyuti, 2002, p. 168).
Or have you thought that the companions of the cave and the inscription were, among Our signs, a
wonder?
The story ends with a conclusion that retains its theme on divinity and its objectives and purpose of the story, which is
the unwavering belief towards the might of Allah who gives life to His creations.
Say, " Allah is most knowing of how long they remained. He has [knowledge of] the unseen
[aspects] of the heavens and the earth. How Seeing is He and how Hearing! They have not besides
Him any protector, and He shares not His legislation with anyone."
IJALEL 5(5):70-75, 2016 71
2. The Chronological Structure of the Narrative
The narrative structure of the story is discussed in the following paragraphs.
The plot begins with the fleeing of the youths towards a cave where they assembled while praying to God.
Or have you thought that the companions of the cave and the inscription were, among Our
signs, a wonder? [Mention] when the youths retreated to the cave and said, "Our Lord, grant
us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance." (Source: Sahih
International, 2016)
This is followed by a brief narrative describing their deep slumber in the cave and their righteousness is a trial in this
world.
So We cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. Then We
awakened them that We might show which of the two factions was most precise in calculating
what [extent] they had remained in time. It is We who relate to you, [O Muhammad], their
story in truth. Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in
guidance. (Source: Sahih International, 2016)
After that, the flashback scenes of past incidents that caused them to flee into the cave is narrated.
And We made firm their hearts when they stood up and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the
heavens and the earth. Never will we invoke besides Him any deity. We would have certainly
spoken, then, an excessive transgression. These, our people, have taken besides Him deities.
Why do they not bring for [worship of] them a clear authority? And who is more unjust than
one who invents about Allah a lie?" [The youths said to one another], "And when you have
withdrawn from them and that which they worship other than Allah , retreat to the cave. Your
Lord will spread out for you of His mercy and will prepare for you from your affair facility."
(Source: Sahih International, 2016)
This is followed by another flashback scene, which is the incidents that occurred while they slept in the
cave.
And [had you been present], you would see the sun when it rose, inclining away from their
cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [laying]
within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah . He whom Allah guides is the
[rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray - never will you find for him a protecting guide.
And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and
to the left, while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance. If you had looked at them, you
would have turned from them in flight and been filled by them with terror. (Source: Sahih
International, 2016)
The readers are then brought to present by the narration about their restoration from a long sleep.
And similarly, We awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from
among them, "How long have you remained [here]?" They said, "We have remained a day or
part of a day." They said, "Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained. So send one
of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and
bring you provision from it and let him be cautious. And let no one be aware of you. Indeed, if
they come to know of you, they will stone you or return you to their religion. And never would
you succeed, then - ever." (Source: Sahih International, 2016)
This is followed by the scene involving the generation after the incident, the stir and debate that came after.
And similarly, We caused them to be found that they [who found them] would know that the
promise of Allah is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt. [That was] when they disputed
among themselves about their affair and [then] said, "Construct over them a structure. Their
Lord is most knowing about them." Said those who prevailed in the matter, "We will surely
take [for ourselves] over them a masjid." They will say there were three, the fourth of them
being their dog; and they will say there were five, the sixth of them being their dog - guessing
at the unseen; and they will say there were seven, and the eighth of them was their dog. Say, [O
Muhammad], "My Lord is most knowing of their number. None knows them except a few. So do
not argue about them except with an obvious argument and do not inquire about them among
[the speculators] from anyone." (Source: Sahih International, 2016)
IJALEL 5(5):70-75, 2016 72
The story ends with the revelation concerning the duration of their slumber in the cave.
And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow," Except [when adding], "If Allah
wills." And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me
to what is nearer than this to right conduct." And they remained in their cave for three hundred
years and exceeded by nine. Say, " Allah is most knowing of how long they remained. He has
[knowledge of] the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth. How Seeing is He and how
Hearing! They have not besides Him any protector, and He shares not His legislation with
anyone." (Source: Sahih International, 2016)
The narrative structure discussed above is summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Summary of the Chronological Structure of the Narrative

Ashab al-Kahf Community’s Narrator
(Mystery, Flashback and Suspense) Debate (Solution)
(Conflict and
Action)
st nd rd th th th th
1 plot 2 Plot 3 Plot 4 Plot 5 Plot 6 Plot 7 Plot
The fleeing A brief narrative The A Their The scene The

of the youths describing their flashback flashback restoration involving the revelation
towards a deep slumber in scenes of scene of from a long generation concerning
cave where the cave and past the sleep. after the the duration
they their incidents incidents incident and of their
assembled righteousness is that caused that the stir and slumber in
while a trial in this them to occurred debate that the cave.
praying to world. flee into while they came after.
God. the cave. slept in the
cave.
3. The Rhetorical (Balaghah) Strategies in the Narrative

There are 17 rhetorical elements found in the story. The first one is the use of specific words to highlight the main
characters. For instance, the word youth is used to refer to their age and this enables readers to discern their status. If a
group of youths is replaced with they instead, readers would not be able to distinguish their age and might misconstrue
the characters as being old, or middle-aged, teens or children. Therefore, when the Qur’an made a clear pronouncement
of their age, it is also consistent with the lessons for youths: the lesson is to appreciate the depth of their courage against
threats that could also bring death. It shows the correlation between the concept of courage and the young age. With the
youth’s firm principles to uphold truth and justice, and their mental and physical strength, they were able to stand up for
the sake of the ummah (Muslim community) and the world. It is the youth’s burning desire that contemporary youths
should emulate. Therefore, the Qur’anic use of a group of youths to refer to the character of the Ashab al-Kahf is timely
and consistent with the context of the narrative.
In addition, the cave is presented as a foil to the characters although the Qur’an could also use the mountain or the
valley as foils. What is the significance of the cave to the youths? We argue that the cave carries its own symbolic
meaning such as perseverance against all hardships. This comes with the decision to part with all comforts and loved
ones. Thus, the cave is a significant and timely symbol of sacrifice for the sake of God. This is an example of a trial that
a believer can use to measure the strength of his faith to Allah.
The second rhetorical strategy is excluding particular words to create subtlety in language. This strategy is also used in
the contemporary discourse in the politic of self-presentation (see Rashid, Rahman and Rahman, 2016; Rashid et al.,
2016). In the phrase They said: Our Lord!, the Quran did not mention the use of the interjection Oh. This demonstrates
the subtleness of the language adopted by a person who is speaking to God. In this context, it also depicts their anxiety
and panic as they made their journey to the cave. Even readers who know that none except Allah can provide assistance
share in their anxiety, hence their direct prayer to God (Our Lord!). Perhaps the Qur’an is teaching humans that Allah
wants His creations to make a direct plea to God (‘Utayyah, 1997, p.277). Perhaps the youths’ exclamation for God,
without using other interjections or phrases, is the most appropriate reaction in such a circumstance. It also depicts how
much their hearts and souls are closely linked to Allah.
The third strategy is preceding a particular phrase to demonstrate purity and priority. The Quran had preceded from
Yourself before the words mercy and guidance which reinforces the aesthetics of the text. This approach purifies their
request, as if they are praying: We do not seek mercy and leadership for our safety, unless it comes from You, O Lord of
IJALEL 5(5):70-75, 2016 73
the Worlds. Such eloquence is very effective in capturing their fear and reliance on Allah. This Qur’anic style illustrates
the various forms of dialogues used to capture the mood of the story, and further enhancing the storytelling technique.
A close analysis reveals that the Qur’an has also used the word mercy because it is the beginning of all forms of peace
and blessings on this earth. Mercy is a source of blessing, where life continues to exist and flourishes (Al-Khalidi, 1989,
p.64). It is by Allah’s mercy and guidance that the youths were led into safety. Hence, from this perspective, the Qur’an
clearly demonstrates the importance of His mercy to the readers. It is for this reason that the youths are glorified as His
servants. This argument is reinforced in verse 13 where the Qur’an began with who believed before guidance because it
is through faith that Allah’s guidance is sent and grows in manifold over time.
The fourth strategy is preceding a particular phrase to show recognition and respect. In verse 13, the Qur’an structured
the verse by bestowing special recognition and respect for the Prophet Muhammad. This is evident in the phrase to you
that precedes their story in We who relate to you their story. A normal structure would be We relate their story on to
you (Abdul Rahman, 2006, p.97). We argue that this style is used to acknowledge and pay respect to the Prophet
Muhammad who, at the time, was saddened when the disbelievers refused to believe in the message. The story of Ashab
al-Kahf was revealed to boost morale to the Prophet, and the story of the youth’s struggle against injustice became a
medium of communication between the Prophet and Allah. It is to show that youths, who are neither prophets nor
apostles, had the determination to create change and awareness to form a society who believed in the Oneness of God. It
is a story that can be emulated by all followers and can help the Prophet to formulate effective strategies to convey
Islam.
Further analysis reveals the beauty of its composition: the arrangement of the word We to refer to God, and to you to
refer to the Prophet, and their story to refer to the Ashab al-Kahf, carries a symbol of respect and esteem as previously
mentioned. In fact, the repetition of the phrase a group of youths in verses 10 and 13 is a symbol of distinction and
honour for them (Hawa, 1999, p.3166).
The fifth strategy is the use of precise words to describe patience. In verse 14, it is found that the phrase And We made
firm their hearts is used to convey how Allah has strengthened their hearts with forbearance and faith. This illustrates
their clear stance towards the Oneness of Allah and their perseverance in upholding their principles. Hence, the use of
the word firm shows their will and spiritual strength to uphold their responsibility as believers.
The sixth strategy is the use of masculine plural pronoun to show solidarity. It is clearly illustrated in the surah, through
the phrase they all said which indicates that there are more than two individuals in the group. This illustrates their
solidarity in upholding their faith, truth and justice, so much so that their hearts, bodies, and thoughts have become one.
There would be a change in meaning if the Qur’an had used said one individual from among them, or said one of them
instead.
The seventh strategy is preceding specific phrases to show the consequences of transgressing limits. Undoubtedly, it is
believed that the Quran has placed the phrase invent things about Allah before the phrase a lie to show that the Qur'an
condemns all kinds of lies against Allah. The act is a sin more grievous than lying to humans or other creations. This is
accentuated by the use of the words more unjust than to describe the attitude of the kuffar who transgressed the limits
by lying to Allah.
The eighth strategy is the use of conditional phrase to answer questions. The use of the phrase your Lord will spread for
you is the answer to the imperative phrase then go to where it was presumed that they were about to embark to an
isolated place without any contact with the outside world and to bear the challenges and struggles. However, such fears
are alleviated when the Qur’an guarantees that the youths will be given His mercy, and will be bestowed with comfort
and security.
The ninth strategy is the use of specific descriptions given through the imperfect verbs to indicate movement. Verse 17
describes the movement of the sun outside the cave where it rises in the morning and sets in the evening. This is
indicated with the imperfect continuous verb. The Quran explains that when the sun rises, the light goes to the right of
the cave and when it sets, the light moves to the left of the cave (Khudar, 2004, p.133) as if the movement is happening
at this very moment where readers are witnesses to it.
The use of the phrase you would see, with its imperfect continuous verb, is worth mentioning considering that the story
had occurred in the past. This structure illustrates the uniqueness of the Qur’an because it describes the event to the
Prophet Muhammad as if he was a witness to it. In this verse, the use of the demonstrative pronoun that indicates
distance is a symbol of respect that captures the magnitude of the event.
The tenth strategy is the description of sleep and continuous movement with the use of the duplicated verb patterns to
evoke a mood. Verse 18 refers to a flashback narrative to refer to verses 11 and 12. Flashback is another technique
employed in contemporary discourse to attract readers’ attention (Rashid, 2016). It tells the story of the sleeping youths
in the cave, which was formerly mentioned in verse 11 and 12. Yet, in verse 18, it is repeated again. Their slumber
depicts the might of Allah who controls every movement and development of the story, beginning from the sleep that
spanned hundreds of years to their reawakening. The Qur’an describes in detail how their bodies tossed right and left
whilst they slept. It tries to picture the idea of sleeping as if it is happening at that very moment. This assertion is
illustrated with the use of the words sleep, which shows that they slept for hundreds of years. The phrase We turned
them, and the use of the duplicated verbs (to show repeated and prolonged movements), indicates that their body were
consistently moving. This is also narrated as if it was occurring in front of the readers. This style is also consistent with
IJALEL 5(5):70-75, 2016 74
the Quran’s goal, which is to tell this story so that the readers are immersed fully, and that lessons are derived, not only
from the characters in the story, but also through the accurate selection words and phrases.
The eleventh strategy relates to the treatments for paralysis and coma. It must be reminded that even in the absence of
body movements, Allah had preserved and protected their bodies from pests and deterioration. However, it is clear that -
We turned them to the right and to the left - illustrates the occurrence of continuous movement that has contributed to
their survival. According to medical science, when the human body is paralysed or in a state of comatose, it may cause
damage to the blood stream and weaken the bones and muscles (Walter, 2008, p.5).
The twelfth strategy is the removal of accusative of specification to evoke suspense. The Qur’an has removed a phrase
after the phrase how long - How long have you remained [here]? - which refers to the accusative of specification that
evokes suspense in the narrative. This invites several questions, such as: "how many hours? Or how many days? Or
how many months? Or how many years have we slept? (This matter was discussed by Abdul Rahman, 2006, p.109). In
this context, the analysis reveals that the person inquiring is unable to ascertain what is being experienced and was
questioning his friend. In addition, the Qur’an invites the readers to appreciate the youths’ belief in the unseen.
The thirteenth strategy is the special use of the definite noun to indicate certainty. The Qur’an used the definite noun to
the word the city. From a linguistics standpoint, the city refers to a civilization centre, industrial centre, and the social
hub. In this verse, the Qur’an adopted the definite noun to the word city to refer to a city that was familiar to them. At
the same time, the Qur’an was also demonstrating to the readers that the youths truly did not know what has happened
to them.
The fourteenth strategy is the use of the present continuous verbs to highlight on-going conflicts. In verse 21, the Qur'an
used the phrase [That was] when they disputed among themselves in a present continuous verb pattern instead of the
past tense verb even though the event had occurred in the past. It is believed that this is to illustrate that the conflict is
still occurring until today.
The fifteenth strategy is the removing the subject as the main character in a narrative to evoke mystery and surprise. The
Qur’an mentions that there is an on-going interest in the story of the youths. Interestingly, the Qur’an has also used a
narrative structure to highlight the characters by removingthe subject (they) to refer to the youths. It should be They (the
people) will say, “they (the number of youths) were three, … they were five …, they were seven..."’ (‘Atiq, 1974, p.134).
Thus, eliminating the subject enhances the language and evokes a sense of mystery and surprise. If -they- was used
instead, it may reduce the aesthetics value of the language. (Matlub, 1980, p.161) The Qur’an also uses the future verb
in They will say to indicate the people’s continuous and persistent fascination in the matter. Evidently, within the
present society, some are still questioning the number of youths in the cave rather than the deriving lessons from the
story.
The sixteenth strategy is the use of pronouns to refer to the future. In verse 23, the Qur'an uses the pronouns indicating
distance that, which refers to the future, which is tomorrow. It is believed that the future (tomorrow) refers to a future
that is known only by Allah. This coincides with the background of the story that discusses matters of faith and belief in
the unseen. If men are expected to reap benefits in the future, then he must place his hope onto Allah and ask Him, the
way that the youths did.
Last but not least, the removal of the accusative of specification to evoke continuous suspense. The Qur’an informs the
readers the duration of their sleep that was 309 years (based on the Islamic Hijrah calendar calculations whereby the
309 years is equivalent to 300 AD). The difference for every 100 years in the Hijrah calendar to the AD calendar is
three years. Thus, it is clear that the Qur’an is informing the readers that they slept for 300 years and an additional of
nine years (Az-Zuhaili, 2005, p.250). Therefore, the removal of the accusative of specification to refer to the years after
the word nine is sufficient to mention only once after the words 300. If the accusative of specification was not meant to
refer to the years; or days or weeks, or months, then it would have been more specific and clear after the mention of the
word nine. (Ben Salim, 2012: Personal Communication)
4. Conclusions
Surah al-Kahf contains four stories in which each containing its own lessons. One of the stories is about a group of
youths who hid in a cave to escape from a despotic ruler. They then, by the will of Allah, fell asleep for 309 years. The
story of the youths contains many lessons, and no doubt that the book is a revelation sent as guidance to humanity.
Based on the study of the narrative and its rhetorical elements, we argue that the story is not only meant for reading or
memorising, but it is a model of a storytelling technique; containing techniques comprise elements of suspense, conflict,
mystery interwoven through tightly structured verses, which are itself aesthetically unique. Such technique would drive
the interest of the readers not only to read the Quran but also to allow them to visualize the essence of the story.
The narrative structure and detail in each selected words are presented in a variety of techniques, and the Qur’an utilised
a variety of them to accommodate the situations that evoke a particular mood for each scene. In addition, the youths’
characters are also highlighted in the story. This is presented through a plot that transgresses man’s imagination in order
to illustrate an incident where there is a strong reliance on Allah and how importance the relationship is between the
youths and Allah. In terms of time, the interweaving of verses and phrases, including its uses of flashbacks, illustrate the
dynamic techniques are used to narrate the timeline of the story. This arouses readers’ interest and sustains the
momentum of the story. The story The Companions of Cave has its own uniqueness in the use and selection of the
narrative structures and the rhetorical elements. In conclusion, the story has demonstrated the uniqueness in its use of
implicit and explicit words, which all contributed to the preservation of the Qur’an’s beauty.
IJALEL 5(5):70-75, 2016 75
Acknowledgement
This paper is part of an MA research that was sponsored by Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia.
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A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Ideational Grammatical

Metaphor in Marine Engineering and Maritime Legal
Regulation English
Xuehua Wu (Corresponding author)
Jiangsu Maritime Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, University of Oklahoma, United States
Xueying Cai
Jiangsu Maritime Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Abstract
Grammatical metaphor is one of the language phenomena introduced by Halliday (2004) in the framework of functional
grammar. This paper used Halliday’s metafunctional framework in marine engineering and maritime legal regulation
English discourses under Prichard’s category (2003) of English for occupational purposes and English for academic
purposes respectively. The analysis of data was conducted through a description of English occupational and academic
texts, based on grammatical metaphor. The researcher conducted some statistical analysis, including frequency and
percentage of ideational grammatical metaphor and its different processes of transitivity in both genres. Finally, two
genres of English texts were compared statistically to show in what aspect they are significantly different or similar.
The results obtained indicate that the two genres bear more similarities than differences in terms of using the
nominalization of ideational grammatical metaphor. In other words, while indicating genre differences, the study proves
their functional similarities in using the material process types more than other process types to convey meaning,
however marine engineering English applies a little less frequency of material and relational process. Some behavior
process types were found in marine engineering English texts but no behavior processes were found in marine legal
English. Maritime legal English applies small amount of existential process and mental process while in marine
engineering English these two types of process were not found. Both genres apply ideational metaphor to condense the
information and increase the complexity of sentence structure.
Keywords: ideational grammatical metaphor, nominalization, process, marine engineering English, maritime legal
regulation English
1 Introduction
In many instances, metaphorical expression has become the norm and the characteristics of written English. For English
as a foreign language (EFL) learners, getting to know the target language features helps them better understand the
structure, style, and meaning. Marine engineering English and maritime legal regulation English texts (the two genres
contained in our compulsory course book) have the features of long and complicated sentence structure, condensed
information, subject terms or technique words, and specific knowledge (as shown in the following example). These
bring about the difficulties for readers to understand.
The bedplate, which in most cases is of the welded design, is bolted to the seating which forms a part of the double
bottom of the ship. It is secured in the transverse direction by means of bolts known as side-chock bolts and in
longitudinal direction by means of end-chock bolts (China Maritime Organization, 2012: 3).
In the above sentence, there are altogether 51 words in two sentences. It contains some technical words, like bedplate,
seating, transverse, side-chock bolts, longitudinal, end-chock bolts. Also, it contains two attibutive clauses, which
makes the sentence structure complicated and difficult to comprehend.
Students in Chinese maritime institutes and colleges, and trainees who have already worked on board for years seeking
for higher positions, after taking the compulsory course -maritime engineering English, will attend the competency test
of English and other subjects like marine diesel engine, auxiliary machinery, ship management, electrical equipment
and automation. If they fail in the exams, they will not get the Certificate of Competency issued by China Maritime
Safety Administration (MSA). According to many years’ statistics, the passing rate of maritime engineering English test
is the lowest among all the subjects. Students come across tremendous difficulties in analyzing the complicated
sentence structure, and acquiring new technical words and subject knowledge. The competency test comprises two
IJALEL 5(5):76-84, 2016 77
sections, mainly testing the reading ability and understanding of the knowledge. Section I includes seventy-six multiple
choice, 76*1%=76%. Section II includes four reading comprehension passages with four multiple choices following
each passage, 4*4*1.5%=24%. The researcher randomly chose one reading passage of 285 words about the
watchkeeping duties of an engineer.
At appropriate intervals inspection should be made of the main propulsion plant,
auxiliary machinery and steering gear spaces. Any routine adjustments may then be made
and malfunctions or breakdowns can be noted, reported and corrected. During these tours
of inspection bilge level should be noted, piping and systems observed for leaks, and
local indication instruments also be observed......Bridge orders must be promptly carried
Certain watchkeeping duties will be necessary for the continuous operation of equipment
or plant-the transferring of fuel for instance…...(China MSA Maritime Engineering
English Test, January, 2012).
From the above example, it is noticed that sentences are complicated and informative, metaphors are used frequently
(10 instances of metaphor altogether in this passage), which necessitates much effort to comprehend the passage.
For this reason, the researcher hopes the present study can help to find out the linguistic similarities and differences of
ideational grammatical metaphor usages and realization in marine engineering and maritime legal regulation English
texts, which help students, teachers and readers unpack the complicated sentence structure in order to better understand
the English for Vocational Purpose and the English for Legal Purpose more effectively and with less difficulty.
In this paper, the researcher exclusively focused on the analysis of ideational grammatical metaphor in marine
engineering English and maritime legal regulation English. This paper tired to answer the following questions:
1）What is the frequency and percentage of ideational metaphor in the two types of genres?
2）How are the ideational metaphor realized in terms of process?
3）Are there any similarities and differences between the two genres from the aspect of ideational grammatical
metaphor realization?
2 Literature review
2.1 Lexical metaphor and grammatical metaphor
Since the publication of Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Metaphors we live by, metaphor has raised much research interest.
Metaphor is a very common phenomenon in literature, everyday English, academic, and scientific English. For example,
there are a lot of metaphoric words in computer science: mouse, menu, search, cancel, program, high speed and so on.
The term of metaphor is traditionally applied to the lexical transformation which can be described as “variation in the
use of words” (Halliday, 1985, p. 320), which is called lexical metaphor, transferring a dominant quality/attribute of one
thing onto another—that is, from the “source domain” to the “target domain” as in Love is a journey (Lakoff, 1993). In
marine engineering English, using a more concrete, familiar, easy-to-grasp concept helps listeners and readers grasp an
abstract, unfamiliar or difficult-to-grasp concept. Some compared the similarity of source and target, for example, in the
construction of a diesel engine, a lower part of piston as piston skirt, an upper part as piston crown, the blocks on the
crosshead moving up and down on the guide as crosshead shoes like skating shoes.
However, metaphor also brings variation in the expression of meaning if it is described from the point of view of how
meaning is expressed (Halliday, 1985), suggesting that metaphor can be also approached from the point of view of
grammar. Grammatical metaphor (GM) transfers meaning from one grammatical status/class to another, for instance,
from verb (process) to noun (participant). GM is one of the most important language features since it enables readers to
enhance the understanding of nature of language, the semogenic process of language and the relationship between
language and context. GM is used extensively in various written texts and becomes an important concept of systemic-
functional grammar.
GM is “the phenomenon whereby a set of agnate forms is present in the language having different mappings between
the semantic and the grammatical categories” (Halliday & Matthiessen, 1999, p. 7). According to Ravelli (2003), there
are many reasons for being interested in processes of GM, one central reason is in terms of its relation to an
understanding of written texts, and thus to processes of literacy. GM is very much at the heart of written language,
particularly the scientific and academic reasoning. There are two prominent types of GM: ideational and interpersonal,
although Jamshid (2005) gave some exemplifications of textual metaphor.
Some studies analyzed grammatical metaphor qualitatively. Liu (2014) conducted a systemic functional study of the
English nominal group as grammatical metaphor, aiming at studying how English nominal group was related to GM.
The findings showed that the English nominal group as GM could be investigated from the experiential perspective.
Skorcynska (2003) analyzed the metaphor in scientific business journals and business periodicals at the conceptual
level, linguistic level, and communicative level, concluding that the popularization of the scientific business discourse
at the level of metaphor variation consists in a number of transformations. V. To, G. Lê and T. Lê (2015) declaimed
that four linguistic features namely, nominalisation, grammatical metaphor, thematic structure and lexical density were
useful in examining qualitative data and discussed three social metafunctions of language known as the ideational, the
IJALEL 5(5):76-84, 2016 78
interpersonal and the textual metafunctions which are significant for understanding and interpreting texts. Other studies
analyzed quantitatively. Tabrizi and Nabifar (2013) conducted a comparative study of ideational grammatic metaphor in
health and political newspapers, and found that “both genres include all types of process, but the frequency and
percentage of nominalization of ideational grammatical metaphor used in political texts are more than health texts in
English newspapers” (p.49). Dong (2013) presented a modality analysis of the utterances between the lawyer and the
witness within the interpersonal meta-function of Systemic Functional Linguistics framework. To present, no
studiesOnly a few researches touched the qualitative and quantitative analysis of grammatical metaphor in the fields of
engineering English and legal regulation English (elicit the examples or studies conducted).
2.2 Ideational metaphor
Halliday and Matthiessen’s (2004) defined ideational metaphor as follows:
...... the general tendency of ideational metaphor is to “downgrade” the domain of grammatical realization of a
semantic sequence, figure or element—from clause nexus to clause, from clause to group/phrase, and even
from group or phrase to word . . . Such downgrading affects both the unit whose domain of realization is
downgraded, and the units of which it is composed: the downgrading proceeds down the rank scale by a kind
of “domino effect.” The downgrading may start with (i) a whole sequence of figures (ii) with a single figure, or
(iii) with a single element within a figure. (p.646)
Tabrizi and Nabifar (2013) put forward that “In Ideational metaphor lexicogrammatical metaphor features are re-
arranged to put forth a certain view of reality. They constitute an alternative way of constructing a picture of reality”
(p.35). Ideational metaphor is expressed through transitivity system (material, behavior, mental, verbal, relational, and
existential).
The ideational metafunction of language deals with language as representation: it focuses on the role of language in
representing and shaping reality. As Halliday and Matthiessen note (1997, p.14), “the ideational metafunction is
concerned with ‘ideation’ that is grammatical resources for construing our experience of the world around us and inside
us”.
2.3 Congruent and metaphorical form
According to Thompson (2004, p. 222), the term congruent employed here is defined as “closer to the state of affairs in
the external world” while metaphorical form is “the expression of a meaning through a lexico-grammatical form that
originally evolved to express a different kind of meaning” (p. 223).
Steiner (2002) distinguished the “Criteria variously suggested for distinguishing between them include intonational,
lexical, paralinguistic, contextual or cultural features. In addition, one could stipulate that ‘congruent’ goes with
‘unmarked’ and ‘metaphorical’ with ‘marked.’’
Halliday (1994) used congruent forms to refer to the less metaphorical variant. In the congruent form, verbs are used to
express action / process, noun is used to describe participant, adjectives to characteristic, adverbs to circumstance, time,
place and logic. When changes take place, for example, verbs or adjectives change to noun, clause changes to noun
phrase, nominalization turns the process and quality to participant in the metaphorization. Such kind of metaphorical
expressions are realized as ideational grammatical metaphors or metaphors of transitivity (Halliday 1985a, 1994).
1a: When fuel burns, it gives a lot of heat to the air charge. (congruent, verb phrase, burn)
1b: The burning of fuel adds more heat to the air charge. (non-congruent, metaphorical, the hypotactic clause is
downgraded to nominal group, verb (burn) noun phrase, the burning of fuel)
2a: It is necessary to keep a supply of lubricating oil and cooling oil to well maintain the machines. (congruent,
adjective phrase, necessary)
2b: The necessity of lubricating and cooling oil supply is good for maintenance of the machines. (non-
congruent, metaphorical, adjective phrase (necessary) nominal group, the necessity of, an entity or thing;
maintain, a process-verb maintenance, a participant- noun)
Examples in 1a and 2a are more congruent variants, in which a semantic meaning is congruently mapped onto a
grammatical expression. Congruent forms, also referred to as the “unmarked clause structure,” reflect the typical ways
we construe experience using the resources of the lexicogrammar. For example, nouns construe things/ participants,
verbs construe events/processes, adjectives construe qualities or properties.
Examples in 1b and 2b are the metaphorical variants, in which the mapping between semantic meanings and
grammatical realizations was realigned. Metaphorical mode of realization are referred to as “the marked clause
structure,” for example, a process realized by a verb maybe coded as a participant – a noun /nominal group, an
attribute/property realized by an adjective may be coded as a participant, a sequence realized by a clause nexus may be
coded as a single clause with all the lexical items packed in the nominal groups serving as subject or complement. The
transference from the verbal group into the nominal group is a linguistic movement across functions and at the same
time a downward rank shift occurs.
2.4 Nominalization
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Nominalization is the process of deriving nouns from other classes. Nominalization transfers the verb which expresses
the process or the adjective which expresses the characteristics into the form of noun. During the process, a verb or
adjective can be transferred into a noun and become a participant or thing in another process (Bloor & Bloor, 1995).
Nominalization refers to the use of noun or noun phrase with or without the morphological transformation. When the
verb is nominalized, it becomes the concept rather than an action (Taverniers, 2003). Not all nouns deriving from verbs
or adjectives are nominalizations. Hartnett (2004) defined the nouns denoting to process (corrosion, burning, pollution)
and products (information, failure) as nominalizations. In addition to verbal and adjectival nominalizations, the third
type of nominalization can be formed by nominalizing a conjunction, joining two dependent clauses into one main
clause. The action of “can not solve” is nominalized to “inability”.
3(a) Because they can not solve it themselves, they behave in ways that are totally foreign to them (Jones et
al., 1989, p. 268)
3(b) Their inability to solve these problems may lead to kinds of behavior that are totally foreign to them
(Jones et al., 1989, p. 269)
In the process of nominalization, a single sentence is packed in several complex abstract ideas, and a long sentence is
turned into a lexically dense style. Nominalization reduces the number of clauses and increases the information density,
enabling the writer to concisely refer to abstract ideas.
In the previous example 1(b), the nominalized group (the burning of fuel) has the dual function of participant and
expressing the process (burn).
Marine engineering English and maritime legal regulation English belong to the category of writing characteristics of
high literacy in science, technology, legislation and other specialized disciplines. They are more abstract,
depersonalized, and ideational. One of the systemic strategies for achieving word economy and information density in
academic writing has been suggested: grammatical metaphor of the ideational type (Halliday, 1985, 2004; Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004).
3 Methodology
3.1 Corpus
The analysis was conducted on written texts for two subfields within the maritime engineering English, i.e. marine
engineering and maritime regulation. The corpora were chosen from the textbook of Maritime Engineering English
(Chinese Maritime Service Center, 2012), which consists of instruction books for various machines on board and
maritime laws to be observed by maritime engineers when working on board the ship. This textbook is the most
commonly used one in Chinese maritime colleges and institutes. The texts are extracted from original instruction books
and international conventions written in English, not from the Chinese translation version. Marine engineering English
requires careful choosing of words to describe structures, functions, techniques of machines and ideational grammatical
metaphors are used often to make sentences complex. Legal English are more abstract and formal.
Each of the genres contains a total of 14,865 words on its own. Marine engineering English contains 12 texts and
maritime legal English contains 11 texts. The first one contains texts about various machines and their systems. The
second one mainly consists of texts concerning the pollution prevention, safety of life, standards of training,
certification and watchkeeping, ship and port facility security code and port state control.
The data considered as representative in the features observed are generalizable to the whole domain of maritime
English. In this study, the researcher did not analyze the data of written or spoken conversations. The table and figures
in the original texts were excluded from the sample because they were not the appropriate material to be analyzed.
The corpora were analyzed to investigate the frequency and percentage of process types, role and function of ideational
grammatical metaphor, to find congruent domain for all the extracted grammatical metaphors, and also find similarities
and differences between two genres in terms of ideational grammatical metaphor.
3.2 Design
This study was designed within the framework of qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The text analysis
was done in terms of grammatical metaphors particularly by its view of semantic and lexicogrammatical realizations of
functions employed in texts of marine engineering and maritime legal English, to analyze how we represent reality in
language. Clause was used as the unit of analysis, and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics model of text analysis
was applied to analyze these clauses.
3.3 Procedure
The study was carried out in the following steps. First, the researcher chose engineering English and maritime legal
English texts from the text book Maritime engineering English. The first part mainly concerns the working principle,
construction, operating instruction and troubleshooting for various kinds of machines, such as diesel engine and its fuel
oil system, starting system, lubricating system, cooling water system, and various auxiliary machinery (i.e. boilers,
pumps, steering gear, fresh water generator). The second part contains some maritime regulations: The International
Convention for the Prevention Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), The International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS),
The International Convention for the Control of Ballast Water and Sediments (BWS), International Safety Management
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(ISM), International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS), Basic principles to be observed in keeping an engineering
watch, and the port state control (PSC). Then the researcher read the texts thoroughly and very carefully, finding that
the texts contain some lexical metaphors and a lot of grammatical metaphors and determined to choose ideational
grammatical metaphor as the focus of this study. Later, the researcher became interested in the types of process in the
realization of ideational grammatical metaphors. The researcher searched for the ideational grammatical metaphor and
identified them according to Halliday’s definition above mentioned and the process type described below in a consistent
way, and coded them accordingly. Afterwards, in order to ensure correctness, the researcher asked another language
teacher to code the metaphors according to definitions. When some different opinions occurred, an agreement was
reached for the purpose of correct identification.
Table 1. Six Types of Process (adapted from Halliday, 2004)

Types of process Examples
Material (doing, Regular testing of boiler protective devices should be carried at every watch interval.
happening) …..describe the use of the part flow system in conjunction with the ballast discharge and
the slop tank decanting procedures.
Mental (sensing, The fifth day saw the submission of the paper.
seeing, thinking) They include the following principles: ……detection of any fire in the zone of origin.
Relational (being, The sophistication of modern control systems and the reliability of the equipment used
attributing, have resulted in machinery spaces remaining unattended for long periods.
identifying) In the absence of a contract, the construction work of which is begun after 30 June 1976
Verbal (saying) In reality, the computer recognition system must have a set of valid utterances from which
to choose to match the user utterance.
Behavioral Carbon brushes rest on these rings as they rotate and collect the current for use in an
(behaving) external circuit.
Existential Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (8) and (9) regulation every existing crude oil
(existing) tanker of 40,000 tons deadweight and above shall be provided with segregated ballast
tanks and shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) regulation from
the date of entry into force of the present Convention.
In order to accurately identify and analyze the ideational grammatical metaphor, the researcher tried to find a congruent
domain and metaphorical domain for all the extracted grammatical metaphors, which helps better understand the
concept of transitivity and ideational grammatical metaphor.
For example,
3(a) Congruent form: The connecting pipe between the 1st and the 2nd chamber allows that bilge water can
pass from 1st chamber to 2nd chamber.
3(b) Metaphorical form: The connecting pipe between 1st and 2nd chamber allows the passage of bilge water
from 1st chamber to 2nd chamber. (pass passage)
4(a) Congruent form: Modern control system becomes more and more sophisticated and the equipment are
more reliable, which resulted in the machinery spaces being remained unattended for long periods.
4(b) Metaphorical form: The sophistication of modern control systems and the reliability of the equipment
used have resulted in machinery spaces remaining unattended for long periods.(sophisticate
sophistication; reliable reliability)
5(a) Congruent form: When a contract is absent, the construction work of which is begun after 30 June
1976……
5(b) Metaphorical form: In the absence of a contract, the construction work of which is begun after 30 June
1976…... (absent absence)
Ideational grammatical metaphor is closely related to transitivity system, which enables us to construe the world of our
experience into a limited set of process types (material, mental, relational, existential, verbal and behavior). From the
above examples, it is also noticed that nominalization is the most important feature of both genres that leads to
ideational grammatical metaphor. Nominalization makes the verbs which express the process and the adjectives which
express the characteristics metaphorical lose their own functions. “The principal way of creation of GM is
nominalization which is the application of a noun form to present a process meaning” (Tabrizi & Nabifar, 2013, p. 35).
Nominalization features the lexical complexity of written language to attain a high lexical density. And at the same time,
ideational metaphorical expression is more interesting and more economic.
4. Results and analysis
Twelve texts of marine engineering English and eleven maritime law texts are analyzed on the basis of definitions of
ideational grammatical metaphor presented by Halliday (2004) to find out the instances of ideational grammatical
metaphors used in both genres and the percentages and frequencies of process types of ideational grammatical
metaphors in each genre. Furthermore, the data were analyzed to find out the role and function of ideational
grammatical metaphor in these texts.
4.1 Ideational grammatical metaphor in marine engineering English

IJALEL 5(5):76-84, 2016 81
The application of ideational grammatical metaphor is one of the important stylistic features of marine engineering
English texts.
6 Pressure of the fresh water must exceed that of the sea water to prevent any possibility of sea water leakage
into the system.
7 They must be capable of removing heat from oil cooled pistons and in doing so must have the highest
possible degree of resistance to oxidation and other effects of heat. The use of poor quality oil can lead to rapid
deterioration of its properties with the resultant formation of deposits in the piston crown which in turn results
in a considerable reduction in heat transfer with subsequent overheating and thermal cracking.
8 Provision has to be made for the expansion of the water due to the increase in temperature and due to small
amounts of air which may enter the system and become entrained and for water make-up due to leakages.
Ideational grammatical metaphors occur more than twice in the above sentences. The nominalized grammatical
metaphor (provision) enables it to become entity/thing from the process (to provide), also in the case of nominalized
metaphor (possibility) from quality (possible) to entity (possibility). The process is realized by a typical grammatical
class such as a noun, instead of a verb or adjective. These examples show the shift in semantic type and in grammatical
class.
Table 2. Frequency and Percentage of Process Type in 12 Marine Engineering English Texts
Process Frequency Percentage
material 118 87.4
relational 15 11.11
mental 0 0
Existential 0 0
behaviour 2 1.48
Total 135 100%
The percentage of process type is presented in Figure 1. below.
Percentage of process types in marine engineering English

100
87.4
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
11.11
10 1.48
0
material relational behaviour
Figure 1. Percentage of Process Types of Ideational Grammatical Metaphor in Marine Engineering English
From Table 2 and Figure 1, it can be found that 135 instances of ideational grammatical metaphor were extracted from
marine engineering English texts, 118 material, 2 behavior, 15 relational, 0 existential and 0 mental. The percentage of
the material process type is 87.40% which represents the most dominant proportion of the ideational grammatical
metaphor, followed by 11.11% relational process type. This shows that material process type occurs more frequently
than other processes and applies frequently the nominalization of ideational metaphor.
4.2 Ideational grammatical metaphor in maritime legal English
Similarly, in maritime legal English, ideational grammatical metaphor dominates the linguistic feature. Some sentences
in the under- listed examples represent the application of ideational grammatical metaphor twice or more in a simple
sentence. One of the main benefits of
nominalization of ideational grammatical metaphor is the production of high adult wordings (Halliday, 1985).
Nominalized group not only condenses the information, but also facilitates the cognition of some conceptual and
legislative regulations, making legal English more logical, concise and rigorous.
9 Regulations 9 and 10 of this Annex shall not apply to:
(a). the discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or
saving life at sea; or
(b). the discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture resulting from damage to a ship or its equipment:
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(c). provided that all reasonable precautions have been taken after the occurrence of the damage or discovery of the
discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the discharge; and……
Table 3. Frequency and Percentage of Process Type in Maritime 11 Legal English Texts
Process Frequency Percentage
material 142 86.58
relational 16 9.75
existential 5 3.3
behaviour 0 0
mental 1 0.61
Total 164 100%
As Table 3 shows, out of 164 instances of metaphor, 142 instances of material process account for 86.58%. Relational
and existential process type account for 9.75% and 3.3% respectively. The percentage of mental process type is 0.61%.
No behavior process was found. Like marine engineering English, maritime legal English represents the dominant
textual force of material process type and then the relational type of process.
The percentage of process type is presented in Figure 2 below.
Percentage of process types of ideational grammatical

10 0 metaphor in maritime legal English
86.58
80
60
40
20 9.75
0.61 3.3
0
material relational mental existential
Figure 2. Percentage of Process Types of Ideational Grammatical Metaphor in Maritime Legal English
4.3 Similarities and differences of two genres in deational grammatical metaphor usages
A whole picture of all the data was shown in the following Table 4.
Table 4. A Summary of the Usages of Metaphor in Two Genres

Process type Marine engineering Maritime legal Overall
English English
material 118(87.40%) 142(86.58%) 240 (80.26%)
relational 15(9.75%) 16(11.11%) 31(10.36 %)
behaviour 2(1.48%) 0(0%) 2 (0.67%)
existential 0(0%) 5(1.22%) 5 (1.67%)
mental 0(0%) 1(0.61%) 1 (0.33 %)
Total ideational 135(100%) 164(100%) 299 (100%)
grammatical metaphors
160 142
140 118
120
100
Frequncy 80
60 marine engineering
40 1516 English
20 20 05 01
maritime legal regulation
0
English
Process type
Figure 3. Comparison of Frequency of Process Type of Ideational Grammatical Metaphors in Two Genres
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Figure 3 shows the frequency of different process types for realizing ideational grammatical metaphor in marine
engineering and maritime legal regulation English.
From the marine engineering English texts totaling14, 865 words, 135 instances of ideational grammatical metaphor
were extracted, and 164 instances of ideational grammatical metaphor from maritime legal English corpus totaling
14,865 words. As the figure shows, marine engineering English applies a little less material process (118 vs 142) and
relational process (15 vs 16). Behavior process types were found in marine engineering English texts (2), but no
behavior processes were found in maritime legal English. Maritime legal English applied existential process (5) and
mental process (1), while in the marine engineering English these two types of process were not found. No verbal
process types were found in both genres.
4.4 Discussion
Based on the above findings, we can conclude that there are some similarities and differences in the usage of ideational
grammatical metaphor in both genres. Liu (2001) has presented that nominalization is one of the essential
characteristics of grammatical metaphor in systemic-functional linguistics. A statistical analysis of the distribution and
features of six types of nominalization in twelve texts and eleven maritime legal texts was conducted in this study. The
statistical analysis revealed that nominalization of verbs occurred the most frequently to perform the function of
conciseness, objectivity, formality and semantic expansion; the nominalization of verbs took place more frequently than
adjectives to perform the function of conciseness and objectivity.
There are more similarities than differences in both genres. As to the similarities, both genres apply the ideational
grammatical metaphor to perform the function of condensation, conciseness, objectivity, and logicality. Both of them
apply a big proportion of nominalization and dominant textual force of material process to realize the transitivity and
low proportion of other types of process.
This research supports the findings in Tabrizi and Nabifar’s study (2013) and Halliday (2004) that the ideational
grammatical or transitivity analysis should show material type process.
Regarding the differences of metaphor use in both genres, marine engineering English applies a little less instances of
material and relational process than maritime legal English and applies no existential and mental process, and a little
percentage of behavior process, while in the maritime legal English no behavior process is found.
A tendency towards conciseness has been observed in two sampled genres. The use of compact construction is possible
through process of metaphorization and nominalization. Ideational grammatical metaphor instances in both genres
perform the similar functions, such as condensing, objectivity and logicality. Marine engineering English belongs to
scientific English with concrete and objective phenomena and the nominalization used makes easy for processes to be
objectified. The use of nominalization can condense some technical, professional and subject matter terms and several
lexical meanings into one or two nominal groups, making the text difficult to understand without the background
knowledge of subject matter.
Maritime legal English applies more nominalization and material process and relational process in order to convey
meaning in a more abstract, logical, and formal way. It also makes the text difficult to understand.
5. Conclusion
Based on the theory of Systematic Function Grammar, the analysis was carried out trying to find out the functions and
several process types of ideational grammatical metaphor and differences and similarities of ideational grammatical
metaphors in marine engineering English and maritime legal regulation English.
Marine engineering English applies less instances of ideational grammatical metaphor than maritime legal English.
Both genres apply three or four types of processes of the six types of process, but marine engineering English uses less
instances of material and relational process than maritime legal English. No mental process and existential process are
used in marine engineering English. While in maritime legal English, no behavior process is used. Nominalization,
turning a process (verb) or quality (adjective) to concept or entity (noun), is found most frequently in the realization of
ideational grammatical metaphor, which is characteristic writing style in engineering English and legal English.
Nominalization makes the writing of these two genres more formal, informative, objective, and concise. This feature
meets the needs of engineering and legal texts’ requirement of conciseness, economy and formality, on the other hand,
increases the difficulty of understanding.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Dr. Alicia O. Burris and Dr. Lawrence A. Baines for their encouragement to carry out this study. Our
heartfelt appreciation should be given to Lihui Liao for her assistance to identify the metaphors. Thanks also should go
to Gul Nahar for her academic editing.
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Shattering Man’s Fundamental Assumptions in Don DeLillo’s

Falling Man
Hazim Adnan Hashim
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
Rosli Bin Talif

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
Lina Hameed Ali

College of Arts, University of AL Mustansiriyah, Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract
The present study addresses effects of traumatic events such as the September 11 attacks on victims’ fundamental
assumptions. These beliefs or assumptions provide individuals with expectations about the world and their sense of self-
worth. Thus, they ground people’s sense of security, stability, and orientation. The September 11 terrorist attacks in the
U.S.A. were very tragic for Americans because this fundamentally changed their understandings about many aspects in
life. The attacks led many individuals to build new kind of beliefs and assumptions about themselves and the world.
Many writers have written about the human ordeals that followed this incident. Don DeLillo’s Falling Man reflects the
traumatic repercussions of this disaster on Americans’ fundamental assumptions. The objective of this study is to
examine the novel from the traumatic perspective that has afflicted the victims’ fundamental understandings of the
world and the self. Individuals’ fundamental understandings could be changed or modified due to exposure to certain
types of events like war, terrorism, political violence or even the sense of alienation. The Assumptive World theory of
Ronnie Janoff-Bulman will be used as a framework to study the traumatic experience of the characters in Falling Man.
The significance of the study lies in providing a new perception to the field of trauma that can help trauma victims to
adopt alternative assumptions or reshape their previous ones to heal from traumatic effects.
Keywords: benevolence, meaningfulness, self-worthiness, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder
1. Introduction
The tragedy of September 11 is seen as a changing point in Americans’ lives as it has affected Americans’ worldviews
and beliefs about the meaning of life and their sense of self-worth. After the traumatic event of September 11, many
American individuals have appeared heavily burdened with cognitive and psychological problems. According to
Simpson and Cote, these attacks have brought damages to the mental world of every American citizen (Simpson and
Cote 50).
The event and its aftermath have been covered and reported by newspapers, television, radio, and journalists. But the
literary works are looked at as a good resource for reflecting the repercussions of the disaster on Americans’ lives
(Keniston and Quinn 124). The tragic effects of the September 11 attacks started to appear in literary works only a few
years later. Authors have been attracted to embody the people’s struggles to survive the deadly effects of the traumatic
event. The tribulations caused by the event have engendered an extensive body of literature. The theme has been tackled
in scholarly works, autobiographies, reminiscences, poetry, and novels. The contemporary American writer Don
DeLillo belongs to a group of authors who have devoted fiction to the memory of the September 11 calamity and its
impact on Americans. His novel Falling Man (2007) reveals his fascinating to depiction of how the multifaceted and
long-term effects of trauma have spoiled Americans’ psychological and cognitive lives.
It is quite relevant to mention here that trauma may cause many psychological and cognitive problems that afflict
victims’ perceptions about themselves as worthy, life as meaningful, and people as benevolent. These problems can be
further explored and explained in the light of the theory of the Assumptive World by Ronnie Janoff-Bulman. In her
1992 book Shattered Assumptions: Towards a New Psychology of Trauma, Janoff-Bulman presents her theory that
concerns the influence of trauma on individuals’ established basic assumptions. Moreover, it focuses on the ways
trauma survivors can build new fundamental assumptions or modify their old ones to recover from trauma effects.
IJALEL 5(5):85-91, 2016 86
The present study takes advantage of Ronnie Janoff-Bulman’s theory of the Assumptive World as a vehicle to look at
Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, intending to reach a new understanding of how victims’ lives have been differently
affected and rerouted by catastrophic events. Since the effects of traumatic events such as 9/11 could change
individuals’ assumptions and understandings of the world’s benevolence, and meaningfulness, this may affect their
sense of self-worth, as members of this world.
2. The Role of the Fundamental Assumptions in Man’s Life
The assumptive world, as a concept, refers to the assumptions or beliefs which provide individuals with expectations
about the world and about their sense of self-worth which ground their sense of security, stability, and orientation
(Janoff-Bulman “Shattered Assumptions” 5). There are three criteria of beliefs form the assumptive world. The
benevolence of the world is the first belief in which an ordinary person believes that goodness prevails over evil in the
world s/he lives in, misfortune happens relatively rarely, and all people are kind, helpful and friendly (Janoff-Bulman
“Shattered Assumptions” 6).
The second belief regards life as meaningful (purposeful). Accordingly, the events of life are explained in different
ways. The first way indicates that the world is just and people’s personal characteristics decide what they deserve in
life. Therefore, good people are less subjected to bad events. The second way refers to individuals’ ability to control
their life events by being preventive, cautious, and wise. These two beliefs lead a person to recognize the
meaningfulness of the world s/he lives in. The last way of explaining events depends on the random nature of the life
events.
The third criterion is presented to form a good opinion about an individual’s self (self-worth). This basic assumption
assesses one’s self as a moral, decent and positive person (Janoff-Bulman “Shattered Assumptions” 11). An individual’s
success in life depends on how they assess their self-worth. The more a person evaluates his/her self as worth, the more
they are encouraged to do their tasks positively (Janoff-Bulman “Shattered Assumptions” 11). In general, when a
person frames himself/herself within morality and responds to the principle of justice and the goodness of the world,
they will not yield to negative events. On the other hand, when the individual believes in the justice of the world, but at
the same time has a low sense of self-worth, s/he may put himself/herself under the influence of being more vulnerable
to harm.
Each of these assumptions are subjected to challenge and they can be lost or shattered in the case of an individual facing
a traumatic experience such as violent tragedy, terrorist attacks, or death (Kaufmann “Safety and the Assumptive
world” 206). Fleming and Robinson argue trauma that victims soon discover that those assumptions that have preserved
steadily and provided coherence to their lives are illusions, so an abrupt feeling of disappointment occurs (qtd. in Beder
258).
Actually, in cases of trauma experience, the guidelines which navigated one’s self in the world are overturned when the
assumptive worlds are fragmented through trauma. Traumatized individuals start to feel that life is no longer a place
with safety and benevolence, peopled with kind helpful persons who have the ability of control and affect what occurs
to them. Recovering from this traumatic feeling of loss may not be easy and more protracted as it becomes necessary to
construct alternative assumptions or reconstruct the previous ones. Such effects of trauma on victims’ fundamental
assumptions are examined through the main characters in Falling Man as they experience the trauma of September 11.
3. Traumatization and Symptoms of PSDT
A severe traumatic event such as September 11 inevitably shatters the victims’ basic suppositions. Janoff-Bulman ties
shattering of individuals’ fundamental assumptions about their world and themselves to markedly exhibit the symptoms
of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of traumatization (qtd. in Lilly 54). PTSD can be defined "a
psychological reaction to experiencing an event that is outside the range of usual human experiences" (Barker 369).
Many symptoms of PTSD clearly emerge in Lianne, one of the two main characters of Falling Man, from the first
chapters of the novel. In fact, Lianne's trauma experience comes from two sources. Firstly, she becomes traumatized via
T.V. coverage of the traumatic event. Secondly, she gets infected by the trauma of her ex-husband, Keith, who survives
his imminent death inside the north tower and severely injured reaches Lianne’s apartment. These two traumatic factors
revive what could be described as an unsolved emotional issue relating to her father’s suicide several years earlier.
As a traumatized person Lianne does not appear as a usual trauma victim. She was not at Ground Zero that morning,
and did not directly witness the event. She was then at home watching live what was happening on T.V. Even so,
distance from the site of the tragedy does not lessen the effects of trauma on her. Therefore, DeLillo presents her as a
character with signs of PSTD. In this regard, Schlenger et al. (2002) states that a survey conducted two months after the
attacks found that watching the coverage on T.V. affected people with the symptoms of PTSD, as well.
The role of watching T.V. coverage in traumatizing Lianne is reflected in DeLillo’s narration of the first moments after
Keith’s arrival from the World Trade Center at Lianne’s house “[Lianne] turn[s] off the TV set…protecting him from
the news” (DeLillo 87). This reflects that Lianne becomes affected traumatically through watching the event live on
T.V. According to a survey conducted by Silver et al. (2002) “watching the attacks live on television was associated
with elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms during the six months after the attacks, although the effect was no longer
significant after adjustment for coping behavior after September 11. In short, Lianne is victimized through watching the
traumatic event on T.V.
Lianne manifests the PTSD symptoms as she talks to Nina about the way she felt at the moment of watching the towers
collapse: “But when the towers fell… I thought he was dead… So many watching… Thinking he’s dead, she’s dead”
(DeLillo 11). It is clear that Lianne loses control emotionally. She begins to show the symptoms of trauma more and
IJALEL 5(5):85-91, 2016 87
more. Lianne has continuing anxiety and agitation. She also has a sense that she is different: “[she] wake[s] up at some
point every night. Mind running non-stop. Can’t stop it” (DeLillo 124). Lianne, who is engaged on that tragic day,
suffers from a sleep disorder and cannot stop herself from thinking about that day because, as Freud explained, “the
traumatic experience is constantly forcing itself upon the patient even in his sleep is a proof of the strength of that
experience: the patient is, as one might say, fixated to his trauma” (qtd. in Caruth “Unclaimed Experience” 61). In fact,
Lianne becomes obsessed with the traumatic images of the attacks as she continues to read and watch anything related
to the event till the end of the novel because “The victims of trauma suffer from continuous repetition of their traumatic
experiences through dreams or simply in their heads and they are unable to get over the experience to move forward”
(Noor, Babaee, and Termizi 246).
3.1 The Benevolence of the World
Generally, every person has a positive attitude towards the world and the people and events that revolve around him or
her. S/he usually looks at the events of life as a collection of positive interconnected parts of behaviors and attitudes
because the world itself and all connected to it are benevolent (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions” 17). Koltko-
Rivera argues that a person’s worldview is composed by his/her spiritual or religious beliefs, among others (qtd. in
Poulin and Roxane 13). Thus, the positivity of one’s overview on the benevolence of people is closely associated with
his/her spirituality. Against this backdrop, Lianne’s assumption of goodness in life and people stems from her spiritual
view about religion. She seems, ostensibly, to give priority to sciences over religion, but her positive perception about
religion was instilled in her cognitive system when she was young. Her father was Catholic, and she was brought up to
understand “the purpose of religion, to return people to a childlike state” (DeLillo 62).
Under the traumatic effects of September 11, Lianne loses her belief about the world as good. Consequently, she
becomes directionless and struggles to understand her new life, which seems false to her and looks like “a scene in a
movie when a character tries to understand what is going on in her life” (DeLillo 47). In fact, Lianne’s suffering is
engendered from her losing the navigations, she uses in her life because victims who experience trauma believe “The
world is no longer a safe, benevolent place, peopled with good caring individuals who have a modicum of control and
impact over what happens to them (Kauffman “Safety and the assumptive world” 206).
Resorting to spirituality or religion is discussed by Ai and Park as a way to face the effects of trauma (Lilly 59).
Therefore, Lianne resorts to religion to reconstruct her shattered assumption about the world as being benevolent. She
tried to stay away from this belief as she thinks “God would be a presence that remained unimaginable. She wanted this
only to snuff out the pulse of the shaky faith she’d held for much of her life” (DeLillo 65). After she experiences
trauma, she becomes involved in religion because “religion could be a good source of emotional support for victims
against trauma that menaces their sense of a world as benevolent and meaningful” (Lilly 59).
Thus, Liann’s turning to spirituality and religion may reflect her attempt to find stability and construct her assumptions
about meaning and benevolence in the world. She is no longer restricted only to science because “she knew there was
no conflict between science and God” (DeLillo 65). In fact, she persists to believe deeply in God. Yet, “[s]he wanted to
trust in the forces and processes of the natural world, this only, perceptible reality and scientific endeavor, men and
women alone on earth” (DeLillo 65). Lianne looks at herself before the trauma as an educated and modern person;
however, the final chapters reveal that her going to church is a way to rebuild her view of life as still good.
3.2 The Meaningfulness of Life
The induced-trauma cognitive changes clearly afflict Lianne’s view for the meaning of life. Pre-trauma, she used to be
an optimistic character, holding positive assumptions about all the people and things around her. As an average person,
she “thinks that the world around [her] is characterized by predominance of good things over evil, misfortunes happen
to relatively rare and that people are basically good, gentle, helpful and caring” (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered
Assumptions” 6-7). At first glance, her watching the sight of people dying change her negatively a lot. She becomes in
shift in terms of her sense and attitudes as she finds
Everything seemed to mean something. Their lives were in transition and she looked for signs.
Even when she was barely aware of an incident it came to mind later, with meaning attached, in
sleepless episodes that lasted minutes or hours, she wasn’t sure (DeLillo 67).
Over time, Lianne becomes engaged in discussing the new reality that emerged from the trauma of September 11. She
believes that she was victimized by an action that is described as nonsensical cruelty, a cruelty that takes people to
nowhere. She comes to be confused because trauma victims are stunned to recognize that their previous assumptions of
the world are but illusions. Obviously, Lianne is serious in her attempt to find a way to grasp what is going on with her.
When trauma victims become able to “retain a sense of meaning in their experiences, they get the most likely to survive
the horrifying conditions, and the search for meaning is a primary human motivation that enables individuals to retain
hope in the face of adversity” (Amanat 14).
Thus, Lianne’s journey to reconstruct her assumptions about life starts by her being occupied with finding a meaning
for the attacks, then a new meaning of life since “in the context of trauma, it has been argued that these challenges to
people’s assumptive worlds arise a search for meaning” (Kauffman, “Loss of the Assumptive World” 135). In fact,
searching for meaning implies a victim’s attempt to find answers to questions such as “Why does this happen to
him/her?” In this regard, like many Americans, Lianne seeks to know reasons for the attacks that may help her to build
a new perception for the meaning of life.
IJALEL 5(5):85-91, 2016 88
Lianne has the feeling of “time pressing in” (DeLillo 67). She is pushed to find specific meaning, and begins to “read
everything they wrote about the attacks” (DeLillo 67). Yet, the meaning has gone too general and too non-concentrated
and “whatever that means. Everything seemed to mean something. Their lives were in transition and she looked for
signs” (DeLillo 67). In the group of Alzheimer’s people, Lianne spends a lot of time. She listens to these patients trying
to get everything about what happened. In fact, her attending the discussions with the Alzheimer group can also reduce
the stress which is resulted from the trauma experience. Tafreshi and Yahya argue that “Social ties act as a buffer for
stress” (122). Therefore, Lianne “wanted to tell them but did not. Tell them everything, say everything. She needed
them to listen” (Delillo 128). Social ties act as a buffer for stress
In fact, she wants to tell her story to the patients hoping they could give an explanation of the attacks. To demand that
the others talk about their traumas reflects to what extent Lianne has been affected by 9/11. Lianne takes every
opportunity to know reasons for the event as she may find an answer to “Why did this event happen to her?” Therefore,
“She tried to follow the sequence of events … The words came fast. She recalled things she didn’t know she’d
absorbed” (DeLillo 126). For her, she knows her beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are no longer as they were pre-trauma
of September 11.
It is clear that Lianne feeling in a distressed mood is a result of shattering her essential suppositions that help her to
explain her life events. According to Janoff-Bulman “what makes traumatic events so distressing is that they violate
many of the basic assumptions people have about themselves and the world (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions”
53). Therefore, she expresses to Keith her inability to understand her ideas as “[she] can’t identify thoughts [she] can’t
claim as [hers]” (DeLillo 125). However; her failure to make sense of people and things around her gives a sign that her
fundamental assumptions are deeply afflicted by trauma effects.
Lianne still tries and tries to understand why the attacks happened to them. In the last chapter she starts to go church. In
a relevant sense, Pyszyzynski suggests return to religion as one of the reactions to 9/11 is considered an intensifying
pursuit for meaning and value (100).
3.3 Self-Worth
People, in general, evaluate self-esteem to a relatively high level. They operate under the supposition that they are
worthy and decent individuals. The assumption of self-worth provides an individual with an expectation of receiving
outcomes that are in line with his/her behavior (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions” 11-12). These outcomes,
whether or not negative, depend on how the concerned person behaves. In other words, there is a relational connection
between the events of life, on one hand, and human behaviors and attitudes, on the other hand. The event of September
11 is unanimously described as a negative one. Lianne listens to Martin, Nina’s friend, as he explains the event as a
negative outcome to the negative attitudes and behaviors of Western countries, in general, and the United States, in
particular, towards Middle-East countries and their people. Martin argues that “These are matters of history. This is
politics and economies. All the things that shape lives, millions of people, dispossessed their lives, their consciousness”
(DeLillo 47).
Martin holds the belief that the government of the United States is responsible for the terrorist attacks. The long history
of purely negative treatment of the people of those countries has led to “lost land, failed states, foreign intervention…”
(DeLillo 113) The vision presented by Martin is in line with the idea of “social laws.” Janoff-Bulman suggests that the
world is meaningful place, events in the world make sense, these events, therefore; can be explained in accordance with
accepted “social laws” (“The Aftermath of Victimization” 21). According to Lerner, such social laws become a source
of rules of justice and control. Then, justice is invoked when there is a belief that people get what they deserve and they
deserve what they get (Lerner 11). In this sense, terrorist activity can be seen as a reaction to negative behavior
represented by the atrocities committed by American exploitation and intervention. Lianne contemplates what Martin
poses.
On the other hand, these attacks would not have happened if there preventive action was taken by Americans. As
Lianne says, “Eight years ago they planted a bomb in one of the towers. Nobody said what’s next. This was next”
(DeLillo 10) Lianne’s statement reflects the assumption that “an individual believes that he can engage in relevant,
preventive actions resulting from thinking about what might happen to him, believing that life events can be predicted
and he can protect from them” (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions” 10). As mentioned earlier, a good behavior
can be used to take control over events a person faces. Preventing a disaster becomes possible when an individual
adopts protective behavior.
However, the affliction of Lianne’s basic belief of invulnerability that provides one with a sense of self-worth is
increased due to her listening to Martin’s perceptions as he is arguing with Nina about the reasons for the attacks. He
disagrees that the attacks have religious motives since “the system doesn’t justify this. Islam renounces this (DeLillo
112). He embraces the belief in “an action-outcome contingency” (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions” 10) that
means people get what they deserve based on their behavior. Martin is convinced that the attacks have historical roots
and these traumatic events would not have occurred if there were no negative acts done by America because “if [people]
engage in appropriate positive behaviors, good things will happen to them” (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions”
10).
These arguments reveal the prevailing sense of invulnerability becomes an issue for all the characters. Shattering the
sense of vulnerability engenders the low sense of self-worth inside Lianne because it gives her a sense of vulnerable.
Lianne, like many Americans, feels defenseless since a trauma “victim finds it hard to continue seeing the word as safe
IJALEL 5(5):85-91, 2016 89
and fair and seeing the self as worthy and deserving. Such experience disproves the view of the world as benevolent and
of the self as invulnerable (Baumeister 234). The attacks challenged fundamental assumptions of all Americans in terms
of national and personal invulnerability although the majority of them were not directly exposed to the attacks. Silver et
al. states that the symptoms of posttraumatic stress were accompanied by substantial fears of additional terrorist attacks,
as more than half of Americans expressed concerns for the safety of themselves and their loved ones (qtd. in Silver and
John 248).
For Amanat, any overestimation of the ability of human beings to control unpredictable events sustains the feeling of
being invulnerable (80). Such feelings of invulnerability reflect logical outcomes of an individual’s main assumptions.
This will be reflected in the individual’s ability to resurrect their feelings of fear that the traumatic event may happen
again and again. This is what happens with Lianne and most Americans. The vision of their security being severely
been undermined raises such a sense of vulnerability. The tragic event that gives the Americans the potential to see that
thousands of persons could die immediately delivers an important message to all Americans. The potential attack is
reflected through the unfamiliar sight Lianne sees:
She was not accustomed to the sight of police and state troopers in tight clusters or guardsmen
with dogs. Other places, she thought, other worlds, dusty terminals, major intersections, this is
routine and always will be. This was not a considered reflection so much as a flutter, a downdraft
of memory, cities she’d seen, crowds and heat (DeLillo 32)
Now, the Americans understand that they are vulnerable to aggressive attacks of death and destruction like any other
people in the world. In fact, the terrorist attacks bring to an end the Americans’ false sense of security. The feeling of
inviolability is shown nothing than an illusion. It was decisively shaken. Like many of those Americans who have been
traumatized by the September 11 attacks, Lianne’s sense of vulnerability and distress gets stronger and stronger inside
every citizen of the United States. Janoff-Bulman concludes that the traumatic events are distressing because they afflict
and destroy the fundamental assumptions of people in their society (“Shattered Assumptions” 96).
Thus, that Lianne’s attitudes and behaviors are different means her basic assumptions of the things in the world have
been afflicted by 9/11’s tragic events. According to Janoff-Bulman and Schwartzberg, any change in the behavior of
traumatized people reflects a change in their fundamental assumptions (489). This change of behavior seems clear in
Lianne’s aggressive reaction to Elena. Lianne’s violent attitude towards anything related to the Middle East indicates
not only how vulnerable she feels but also the reconstructing her perceptions about Middle Eastern people and their
cultures. Janoff-Bulman mentions that people rebuild biographies of persons whom they know and interpret the
behaviors and thoughts of the others in order to be consistent with the assumptions they already hold for these people
(“Shattered Assumptions 30).
Baumeister suggests when an individual experiences trauma and becomes vulnerable, s/he starts to feel fearful and
powerless. This new feeling goes in contradiction with the trauma victim’s fundamental assumptions that they have had
before trauma events (234). As a result, the victims suffer from a sense of negative self-worth. For Lianne, she becomes
haunted by this sense of herself. Moreover, she gets frightened, uncertain and upset. She feels that she does not have the
ability to go through her new life easily. She informs Keith that “[she] wake[s] up at some point every night. Mind
running non-stop. Can’t stop it” (DeLillo 124). She cannot sleep comfortably, and she cannot stop thinking of what
happened. In spite of all that, she still struggles to rebuild her previous perceptions to recover from these induced-
trauma negative effects.
Lianne’s belief in God plays a significant role in her attempting to validate the benevolence of life. At the same time, it
supports her seeking meaning from events and life, thus it helps her reconstruct her old assumptions. Lianne’s reaction
reflects the vital relation between a trauma victim’s spiritual and religious aspect, on one side, and the facility of his/her
ability to rebuild broken assumptions, on the other side. Lianne becomes gradually able to control her traumatic life as
she holds the new worldview that people are benevolent and helpful and life controllable, but not absolutely. This
demonstrates that there is some increase of hope and spirituality in Americans’ basic assumptions after September 11
attacks. Both these characteristics demonstrate their contributions in lowering the levels of PTSD symptoms.
In the wake of violation of fundamental assumptions by a subversive event such as September 11, there remains the
hard task of rebuilding these assumptions about life, people, and the self. Life requires constructing an accurate balance
between avoiding and facing trauma-related images, thoughts, and feelings. Since earlier assumptions become no longer
usable in describing the world or not convenient and functioning within it, it is necessary to reshape them or hold new
worldviews that are viable and in harmony with new possibilities. Lianne seems involved in protecting her new
reconstructed assumptions as she takes part in an anti-war protest.
In 2004, Lianne accompanies Justin, her son, to anti-war protest and peace-promoting march in New York City. Eight
years before the September 11 attacks, the terrorists “planted a bomb in one of the towers. Nobody said what’s next
(DeLillo10). Now Lianne and the other protesters try to take preventative action against the possibility of the
occurrence of more attacks as a reaction towards the war on Iraq. She takes Justin there “to allow him to walk in the
midst of dissent, to feel and see the argument against misrule” (DeLillo 182). This reflects a lived scene that manifests
the heightened degree of positive energy Lianne has. She strives to inculcate in his cognitive system assumptions about
the reality of life because “In our daily actions and interactions, we typically understand events and outcomes in terms
of efficient causality” (Janoff-Bulman, “Shattered Assumptions 133).
IJALEL 5(5):85-91, 2016 90
The anti-war attitude presented by Lianne and the other protesters stand for a live occasion with Americans’ desire to
protect their fundamental assumptions about their self-worth and the benevolence of people. Justin works together with
the protests. He seems an active member as he manages to talk to the other anti-war members, or discusses leaflets
about Islam with Muslims. In depth, the scene implies looking for the reasons for such traumatic events. For a trauma
victim, this represents the meaning of the traumatic event that defines which assumptions are influenced and how the
event is grasped. These new assumptions have been imposed upon the victim by circumstances. Moreover, they are
determined by the adaptive quality of each person that is deeply examined under these circumstances.
At the end of Falling Man, DeLillo creates a kind of hope by including Lianne and Justin in the anti-war demonstration.
He makes the beginning of novel and its end have two very different views on life and different portrayals of New York
City. DeLillo devotes this scene of optimism in looking forward to the next American generations’ adoption of a
realistic strong set of assumptions about life, people, and their perceptions of themselves. By doing this, DeLillo
attempts to present a way to uproot the effects of the trauma of September 11 from the Americans’ collective
consciousness because “Traumatic historical events are deeply rooted in people’s collective consciousness
(Khodadadegan, Kaur, and Babaee 65).
4. Conclusion
This study concludes that traumatic experiences such as the September 11 attacks affect the victims’ fundamental
assumptions, thus, their attitudes and behaviors. This interprets why these victims exhibited symptoms of being less
confident or convinced about their abilities to understand what and why this happened to them. It also gives an
explanation for increasing aggressive behaviors of some of these victims in the case of September 11 trauma,
particularly against Middle Easterners. The trauma victims also have felt they are not able to have meaningful control
over the real connection between what they had done and what they received. Consequently, this has expectedly led
them to be haunted with security fears and procedures trying to restore such control and to regain a sense of
predictability in their conduct and behavior of daily life. Lianne becomes gradually able to control her traumatic life as
she holds new worldviews towards people are benevolent and helpful and life controllable, but not absolutely. Against
this background, in the wake of an unforgettable traumatic experience, the victims’ range of basic beliefs must be
modified to agree with new possibilities. This means that the shattered assumptive worlds are adjusted and developed
progressively in accord with daily lived experience. Furthermore, this study also proves that there is some increase of
hope and spirituality in Americans’ basic assumptions after the September 11 attacks. Both these characteristics
demonstrate their contribution in lowering the levels of PTSD symptoms. When traumatized persons’ attempt to make
sense of what has happened, as they reshape their shattered assumptions, it is likely that they see purpose in the trauma
as a strategy for that. Understanding the traumatic event is considered as the most significant intergradient for the
process of recovery from a trauma’s effects. Finally, it is not absolutely necessary to believe that so long as an
individual acts as s/he should, nothing unfavorable will happen.
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Dying 50.4 (2005): 255-265.
Caruth, Cathy. Unclaimed experience: Trauma, narrative and history. JHU Press, 1996.
DeLillo, Don. Falling man. Simon and Schuster, 2007.
Janoff-Bulman, Ronnie, and Steven S. Schwartzberg. "Toward a general model of personal change." 1991.
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wake 1 (1985): 15-35.
Kaufman, G. "Safety and the assumptive world." Loss of the assumptive world. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2002.
Kauffman, Jeffrey, ed. Loss of the assumptive world: A theory of traumatic loss. Routledge, 2013.
Keniston, Ann, and Jeanne Follansbee Quinn. Literature After 9/11. Vol. 1. Routledge, 2013.
Khodadadegan, Neda, Hardev Kaur, and Ruzbeh Babaee. "Postmodern Apocalypse in White Noise and London
Fields." International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 5.4 (2016): 65-71.
Lerner, Melvin J. The belief in a just world. Springer US, 1980.
Lilly, Michelle Marie. Shattered assumptions, coping and religiosity in intimate partner violence survivors: a partial
explanation for variation in PTSD symptoms?. ProQuest, 2008.
Noor¹, Nurul Soleha Mohd, Ruzbeh Babaee, and Arbaayah Ali Termizi. "Effects of Ttrauma in Don DeLillo’s Point
Omega." Language & Communication 2.2 (2015): 243-258.
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Poulin, Michael, and Roxane Cohen Silver. "World benevolence beliefs and well-being across the life
span." Psychology and aging 23.1 (2008): 13.
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bulletin 130.3 (2004): 435.
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Americans' Reactions to September 11."Jama 288.5 (2002): 581-588.
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traumas. na, 2013.
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Columbia University Press, 2013.
Tafreshi, Leila, and Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya. "Migration, Trauma, PTSD: A Gender Study of Morrison's
Jazz." Advances in Language and Literary Studies 5.3 (2014): 120-125.
Marriage in Renaissance Drama: Defiance of Patriarchal

Authority and Social Conventions
Ibrahim Abushihab
English Department, Alzaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Esraa Abushihab
Yarmouk, University of Jordan, Irbid, Jordan

Abstract
This paper focuses on the miserable position of women and marriage issues in Renaissance drama. Women were
generally considered as a threat to male authority. Girls did not have the right to choose their future husbands and were
mostly obliged to marry men they did not like because their choice was based on the principles of the law and norms.
Under these miserable conditions, some writers of the period strived to change the negative position of society and
challenged the tyranny of male authority. In Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) and John Webster's The
Duchess of Malfi (1612), Mariam and the Duchess reject the demands of their society to be obedient, and raise voices
to assert their selfhood. Mariam decides to get rid of these restrictions by breaking the convention of the silent women
and to challenge her husband’s authority, and that of her patriarchal society. On a parallel line, The Duchess attempts to
deny the authority of social conventions and impose her identity in a patriarchal society. They are rebellious women
who refuse to be under male authority and represent the contradictions of female identity in patriarchal cultures. They
could not bear their humiliation in their society, and they want to lead a normal life without being controlled. Both die
at the end and pay their lives for defying patriarchal authority and social conventions.
Keywords: Feminism, Renaissance, Drama, Rebellious women
1. Introduction
Throughout the ages, women encountered many problems and difficulties in their lives. In Renaissance era, most of
them were deprived of their rights. They were controlled by their parents in their childhood, and then handed over to
their husbands who controlled everything in their lives as well. Unmarried girls had to spend their lives as nuns in
convents under male authority. They were born to be subjected to male authority and were expected to be dutiful to
their fathers and husbands and restricted themselves to feminine activities such as child-rearing. Mothers at home
widened the gap between males and females by the way they raised their children. They believed that masculinity,
unlike femininity, associated to strength, responsibility and success. Marriages were arranged, not by the two people
getting married, but by their parents and other relatives. Marriage might provide a way of combining adjacent estates or
of concluding a peace treaty. A married couple was regarded by the law as a single entity and that entity followed the
will of the husband.
2. Discussion
During the period 1550-1603, England had five uninterrupted decades of powerful female rulers like Lady Jane Grey,
Mary I, and Elizabeth I, but they did not show or have any effective impact on the role of women. Queen Elizabeth I
was considered as a successful woman and given credit for England’s remarkable prosperity, stability, and cultural
achievement during her reign, but she did not change the negative role of women in society, neither did she promote
other women to positions of authority or encourage the extension of greater rights to women. In the Faerie Queene,
Edmund Spenser ironically asserted that women were treated as slaves, and no one cared for them. In English
Renaissance Drama, male authority was mostly highlighted, but the voice of women was suppressed because they were
generally considered a threat to male authority. Some examples of suppressed female characters in Renaissance Drama
are in Ophelia and Gertrude in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Anne in Thomas Heywood’s A Woman Killed with Kindness, and
Annabella in John Ford 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Such examples highlight the stereotype dominance of men over
women. Women were submissive and were obliged to accept their miserable conditions. Burks (1995) points out those
girls had no autonomy to choose their husbands. This was because the English law at that time did not allow any legal
marriage without the approval of the girl’s father who mostly obliged her to marry a man whom he chose for her. Many
Renaissance plays dealt with the marriage issue and the dangers of breaking the accepted norms and according to Pohlig
(2009), adultery was unsatisfactory relationship because it was against the social customs and it was a more
complicated than legitimate marriage.
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Under these miserable conditions, some women writers of the period tried to change the negative position of society
towards women. Elizabeth Cary (1585-1639) together with other enlightened dramatists started to reject the demands
of society, and raised voices to assert their selfhood. Though Cary’s name may be unfamiliar to all but scholars in the
admittedly niche field of early modern women’s writing, she is without question a critical figure in the history of
English literature and drama. Her play The Tragedy of Mariam was the most important play written by a woman of the
time. In this play which was published in 1613, Mariam put the blame on her patriarchal society and struggled against
male-authority of her parents and her husband.
Cary focuses on the development on Mariam’s character. As Beilin (1998) mentions “Cary’s Mariam is psychologically
more complex” (p.169). Herod wishes that he would come back and find Mariam still under his control. Mariam
expresses her sadness and refusal to be under Herod’s control by wearing a dusky dress. She insists that she does not
want to live under his control any more. When she is asked about her dress, she tries to deceive him by saying it is to
mourn her father and brother. She does not tell him that she wears it to express her sorrow about her independence. At
the same time, the dusky dress represents the beginning of her revolution against her husband’s authority and against
male restrictions and oppression.
The play ends sadly. Mariam is not able to live under her husband’s control and insists to revolt against slavery;
therefore, she is executed. In her article “The Specter of Resistance: The Tragedy Of Mariam”, Ferguson (1991) says
“After the execution, which is described by a messenger, Herod spends most of the final act regretting, as Othello does,
the loss of his ‘jewel.’ Unlike Othello, however, this jealous husband, created by a female playwright, laments not only
his innocent wife’s death but, specifically, the loss of her too valued powers of speech” (183).
At the beginning of the play, Cary decides to free her soul by creating the fictional character of Mariam. Some critics
like Davies (1986) say that “Woman in life and woman in art are not the same person” (p. 1). Elizabeth Cary tries to
gather between both of them. When she presents Mariam, she talks about herself. This character would do what Cary
wants to do in reality, but she knows that she could not do that because of her patriarchal society “when virgin freedom
left me unrestrained” (I. 74). Cary lives in a patriarchal society which prevents her from doing what she wants to do. As
a result, she wants to live her life freely, writing and describing her fantasies.
Feminist critics have shown tremendous interest in Mariam who tries to revolt against the negative role of women. She
wants to assert the female identity in a patriarchal society. Cary’s play poses the problem of a public voice, and the
danger of female public speech. At the beginning of the play, Mariam is confused between her feminine duty and her
conscience. One can feel her problems during her long soliloquy. Some critics tend to believe that Cary talks about her
life when she presents Mariam. She could in one sense "have applied Mariam’s opening question to herself and
answered it with decorum fictional character lacks” (Ferguson 185). One feels that her public voice would annoy her
patriarchal society.
How oft have I with public voice run on
To censure Rome’s last hero for deceit:
Because he wept when Pompey’s life was gone,
Yet when he lived, he thought this name too great…
My sex pleads pardon, pardon then afford,
Mistaking is with us but too common.
Now do I find, by self-experience taught (I. 1-9).
Mariam is shown as a woman restricted by a patriarchal tradition, but she decides to get rid of these restrictions by
breaking the convention of the silent women. Cary starts her play by describing the miserable lives of women who were
treated as inferior. She highlights the problem of women as wounds which bleed all the time. As a Renaissance writer,
she wants to heal these wounds by declaring her rejection of this miserable situation which she does not accept
anymore.
Cary expands the authority of the female protagonist by giving her the position of widowhood which is the most
powerful position available in Renaissance period. The supposed death of her husband makes her discover her complex
feelings which lead her to discover her selfhood and her rights.
Mariam is different from women in Renaissance drama. She refuses to be under the restraints of patriarchal society.
Cary shows two types of women, the first is that under male control, and the second is those who decide to revolt
against patriarchal society. She breaks the convention of the silent women and decides to challenge her husband’s
authority, and that of her patriarchal society. In his article “Women’s Position in the Renaissance Period: The Case of
The Tragedy of Mariam”, Wang (2010) believes that Mariam challenges her husband’s authority and maintains her
physical and moral virtues. Mariam is at the crossroads of her life. She has two choices, the first one is to return to her
husband’s authority, and the other one is to gain her selfhood and her public voice:
Mariam: I know I could enchain him with a smile:
And lead him captive with a gentle word,
I scorn my look should ever man beguile
Or other speech than meaning to afford (III. 163-166).
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In their study of Mariam, some critics make a comparison between her and Desdemona in Shakespeare’s play Othello.
Both Mariam and Desdemona are killed by their husbands, and both do not make any kind of resistance against their
death. In “Sex and the Female Tragic Hero” Roberts (2002) thinks that “Desdemona is a threat to the community’s
values, but her sacrifice as victim does nothing to cleanse or alter her society… Desdemona does have a distinctive
voice, but her one independent action precedes the action and she personifies a male stereotype in which sex leads to
death. She is certainly sympathetic, but hardly heroic” (203). yet we distinguish a big difference between Mariam and
Desdemona. While Mariam refuses to give up her ideas against patriarchal society, Desdemona does not try to defend
her situation. Some critics say that Shakespeare shows Desdemona at the beginning as a rebellious girl, who revolts
against her father’s will and against the conventions of society, and marries Othello, but her voice is suppressed. Other
critics say that Cary wants to hallow Mariam by showing a similarity between her and Christ. This comparison comes
from the relation between Christ and the phoenix. In “Elizabeth Cary" (1585-1639), Beilin (1998) mentions that “The
resurrection of the phoenix traditionally symbolizes the resurrection of Christ and the death of Mariam mirrored that
event. She is calm and mild; her look keeps ‘the world in awe’” (176). At the end of the play, Cary presents Mariam as
a Christ figure because the person who sacrifices himself for others is like Christ. By mentioning the Phoenix, Cary tries
to give Mariam a heroine’s death, because the Phoenix is a symbolic bird that produces small birds after its death. The
death of the Phoenix gives life, and the death of Mariam also gives life for other women.
John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (published in 1612) continues to resonate among modern audiences because of
the Duchess’s enterprising attempt at denying the authority of social conventions and norms over her will to choose a
spouse for love. Webster highlights the fact that no woman is above the patriarchal authority. Although the Duchess
has a political position, she is controlled by her brothers. Accordingly, Ferdinand and the Cardinal terrorize her with
fearful and cruel speech, because they do not want her to slip out of the patriarchal grip:
Ferdinand: Such weddings may more properly be said
To be executed than celebrated.
Cardinal: The marriage night
Is the entrance into some prison.
Ferdinand: And those joys,
Those lustful pleasures are like heavy sleeps
Which do fore-run man’s mischief…
Duchess: I think this speech between you both studied,
It came so roundly off (I. 320-329).
At Renaissance time, women could not face their society because if they tried, they would be punished severely.
Jankowski (2001) discusses the female sovereign, and the sovereign’s marriage "the widow attempts to secure herself
politically by divorcing her natural body from her political one by creating a private second marriage that exists
simultaneously with-but hidden from her public life as a ruler" (222). She challenges Renaissance society’s views
regarding the presentation of the female body and sexuality.
The Duchess’s marriage to Antonio is at the focal point of the play, as it contradicts the established practices and wishes
of the patriarchal aristocracy. She makes her way through the feudalistic aspects of aristocratic society by following her
own desires privately, while publicly pretending to obediently follow her brothers’ wishes, as in the play’s first scene
when she claims to her brothers that she will not marry. The Aragonian brothers are both figures of society’s authority:
the Cardinal is a high ranking official in the Roman Catholic Church and Ferdinand is a Duke and an established
member of the aristocracy. The Duchess’s marriage challenges both aspects of society represented by her brothers.
Marrying Antonio represents her attempt to authorize her divergence from her brothers’ orders and the traditional
ideology that they employ.
The position of Webster’s Duchess suggests her responsibility to her family in terms of her marital status. Her coded
response to Ferdinand’s false claim that he plans to arrange for the Count Malateste to become her spouse is revealing:
“A count? He’s a mere stick of sugar candy; / You may look quite through him. When I choose / A husband, I will
marry for your honor” (3.1.42-44). In fact, the Duchess falsely implies her subordination to the patriarchal nature of
arranged marriages in an attempt to prevent Ferdinand from discovering her unsanctioned marriage.
The Duchess defies the tendencies of the time by choosing to remarry despite the fact that she is not financially
obligated to do so. The socially unequal match between her and Antonio acts as a catalyst that destabilizes relationships
and time-honored social practices and conventions. The play’s depiction of the downward spiral into chaos is brought
about by a strict society’s inability to handle the Duchess’s re-appropriation of conventions and shifting ideologies in
order to create an environment that authorizes her astonishing choice of partners. However, the story of the Duchess and
her steward, Antonio, ends tragically with their murders as punishment for violating social norms. Yet, in the face of
losing everything, the Duchess "maintains her independence by refusing to submit to her brothers’ will as she denies
madness and wishes for her own death" ("Reaffirming the Male Ambition in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi").
Her actions and motives are not driven by political ambition, but rather driven by a need to seek her own identity in a
world where the patriarchal Ferdinand does not allow her a public or private identity.
IJALEL 5(5):92-95, 2016 95
3. Conclusion
In Renaissance era, it is a must for women to obey their fathers and husbands. Unfortunately, women are lower than
men and have to be controlled by men. Leinwand (1986) argues that women are lower in status in comparison with
men. They are lower than men physically, mentally and morally. Women are wrongly considered the source of sin and
evil because they are daughters of Eve who is the cause of dismissal of Adam from the Garden of Eden. Accordingly,
culture and literature are based on this trend, so they are deprived from freedom, Leinwand (ibid) states that, in
comparison to servants, they are treated better, but the society gives them less freedom than men. Women are
imprisoned in the marriage relationship which restricts their freedom. Men control the social, political, religious, and
economic lives of the whole society, especially those of women. Many Renaissance writers try to bind between
marriage and religious issues. Plays written by Renaissance dramatists provide voices in which women characters
speak of their struggle over marriage and the restrictions imposed on them. Marriage obliges women to be under control
all the time.
Mariam and the Duchess are presented as rebellious women who refuse to be under male authority. Critics focus on
them as characters representing the contradictions of female identity in patriarchal cultures. Both characters have the
right to choose one of the following two paths: the first is to give vent to their grievances and challenge their societies
regardless of the dangerous consequences. The second one is to abide by the supremacy of men, and the social code of
their societies. They cannot bear their humiliation in their society, and they want to lead a normal life without being
controlled. Accordingly, both have chosen the first rugged path and have decided to challenge the norms and customs of
their societies. Bergon (1998) in "Women as patrons of English Renaissance Drama” says that several writers detect a
miserable status of women after the Death of Elizabeth, but the positive role of women in society is dealt with because
of the development of women’s rights movements (p.69). Some feminist critics, like Mary Wollstonecraft, have called
for equality between men and women, and have developed a movement currently called Feminism. This movement
melts gender differences, and asks for women’s rights. It helps women become aware of their oppression in the
patriarchal society.
References
Beilin, E. V. (1998). Elizabeth Cary (1585-1639). Readings in Renaissance Women's Drama, 167-181.
Bergon, D. M. (1998). Women As Patrons of English Renaissance Drama. Readings in Renaissance Women's Drama ,
69-80.
Burks, D. (1995). I'll Want My Will Else: The Changeling and Women's Complicity with their Rapists". English
Literary History, 62(4), 759 – 790.
Cary, E. (1994). The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry. University of California Press.
Davies, S. (1986). The Idea of Woman in Renaissance Literature: The Feminine Reclaimed. Brighton: Harvester.
Ferguson, M. W. (1991). The Spectre of Renaissance: The Tragedy of Mariam (1613). Readings in Renaissance
Women's Drama , 182-193.
Jankowski, T. A. (2001). Defining/Confining the Duchess: Negotiating the Female Body in John Webster's The
Duchess of Malfi. Studies in Philology, 221-245.
Leinwand, T. (1986). The City Staged Jacobean Comedy, 1603–1613, Madison: WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Pohlig, V. (2009). Adultery in Early Stuart England, PhD, Der Freien Universitat Berlin.
----- (---). Reaffirming the Male Ambition in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Essays and Articles on Webster.
Anniina Jokinen .December 15, 1999. Web. 2 May. 2016.
Roberts, J. A. (2002). Sex and the Female Tragic Hero. In N. C. Liebler, The Female Tragic Hero in English
Renaissance Drama (pp. 199-218). New York: Palgrave.
Wang, Ya-hue (2010). Women Position in the Renaissance period: the case of the Tragedy of Mariam. Theater, Dance
and Performance Studies, 1-10.
On the English Translation of Chinese Modern Essays From

the Perspective of Cognitive Context: A Case Study of Zhang
Peiji’s English Translation of Chinese Essay “巷”
Jianwei Zheng
School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan Institute of Technology, No.206, Guang Gu Yi Lu Road, Wuhan 430205, China

Abstract
For an English translation of Chinese modern essay to be comprehensible and acceptable to English readers while
exhibiting the particularity of Chinese essays, it’s necessary to discuss the differences between the cognitive contexts in
the mind of Chinese and English readers in their appreciation of Chinese modern essays in Chinese and English
respectively. By dealing with such differences, this paper attempts to analyze the translation strategies adopted by
Zhang Peiji in his translation of Chinese essay “巷” ( “The Lane”), which is also evaluated from the perspectives of
rhythm, style and spirit in the end of the paper.
Keywords: Chinese modern essay; cognitive context; translation; Zhang Peiji; rhythm
1. Introduction
As many well-written English essays have been available to Chinese readers through the efforts of Chinese translators,
Chinese essays should also been made available to English readership to make culture exchange and to share the
richness of Chinese essay literature. However, difficulties abound in the translation of Chinese modern essays due to the
differences of writing style and cultural background between English and Chinese languages.
The literature on English translation of Chinese modern essay can be divided into three classes: the first class generally
addresses the equivalence of form and content (e.g., Zhu, 2000), the second class discusses the employment of specific
translation strategies, methods or techniques (e.g., Tang, 2001; Hu & Li, 2009:182-186), and the third class usually
expounds from the perspective of translation theories like dynamic equivalence and translation aesthetics (e.g. Lai,
2009; Zhang, 2011). All of them are elaborated from the perspective of translator. This paper, however, explores for the
first time the resolution of the clash between Chinese and English readership conventions (perception, expectation and
appreciation conventions of readers). That is to say, this research is initiated from the perspective of the reader instead
of the translator. Besides, the paper is also the first one to discuss the English translation of Chinese modern essays
from the standpoint of cognitive context, specifically the strategies to deal with the shortage of background assumption
to construct cognitive context for English reader to, firstly, comprehend and, secondly, appreciate the translation.
Context in terms of cognitive perspective was first explored by Sperber and Wilson who defined it as “the set of all the
facts that an individual can perceive or infer: all the facts that are manifest to him” (Sperber & Wilson, 2001:39),
supported by Vandepitte (1989), Xiong (1996) and Ramos (1998). Each individual will select each unique set of
assumptions to construct a context to understand each utterance. According to Sperber and Wilson, the interpretation of
the previous utterance constitutes the preliminary context for the next utterance to be processed. Besides, three
extensions of this preliminary context may be needed to understand the utterance. They are the interpretation of earlier
utterances in the verbal communication, the encyclopedic knowledge or information of concepts in the context or in the
processed assumption and information about the situation of verbal communication (Sperber & Wilson, 2001:140). In
order to realize a successful communication as easy as possible, the context used by the writer/speaker for the utterance
should be as accessible as possible to the reader/hearer. The used context of Chinese essays can always be easily
accessed to Chinese readers for most of the background assumptions to construct and deconstruct the context of both
the writer and the readers are similar due to the commonness of encyclopedic knowledge, cultural, social, ideological,
etc. Consequently, gaps between the cognitive contexts of Chinese essay readership and English essay readership
should be bridged by an adequate translation strategy. Translators should provide English readers with additional
information to offset the lack of some background assumptions necessary to understand the text, or make some
clarification of the text, or arrange the content in an English way, all for the purpose of facilitating English readers to
construct a required cognitive context to appreciate Chinese essays.
IJALEL 5(5):96-101, 2016 97
This paper will analyze English readers’ probable shortage of background assumptions to construct necessary cognitive
contexts to understand the Chinese essay “巷”, and illustrate how the translator Zhang Peiji deal with this shortage in
terms of content and structure, and then evaluate his translation from the perspectives of rhythm, style and spirit.
2. From Comprehension to Appreciation: The Shortage of Background Assumptions to Construct Necessary
Cognitive Contexts to Read Chinese Essays
Fundamentally, any translation should read fluently and comprehensibly to native language speakers. Though there
exist many differences between Chinese and English essay readership, proper translation can transform the source text
in Chinese to a translation acceptable, i.e., understandable to the English readership. So first of all, the English essay
readership should be compared to Chinese one to discover both of their specific and unique internalized expectations.
But to be understandable is just a basic requirement for a translation, especially for a translation of literature. The ideal
goal of essay translation should be to allow English readers to appreciate the particular aesthetics and artistry of Chinese
essays which are enormously different from English essays.
This Chinese essay “巷” boasts a great number of idioms, cultural nouns, sentences and discourse features which are
unique to Chinese essay authorship (here it means “way of writing”) and readership (here it means “reading preference
and norm”). These expressions are full of beauty, elegance and simplicity to Chinese readers. How to make them
understandable to English readers? To make it readable, let us first of all analyze the shortage of background
assumptions of English readers which are the basic elements to construct cognitive contexts to understand the essay “巷”
. It should be noted that Chinese authorship advocates and readership expects implicitness and vagueness in the
expression while English authorship worships and readership prefers explicitness and logicalness in the expression
(Wang 2006:1). Consequently, English readers will suffer from understanding the translation of Chinese essays due to
the shortage of such aesthetic assumption of essay readership. Specifically, in terms of vocabulary, there are three kinds
of culture-specific words or phrases in this essay difficult to find English equivalents. The first kind is proper noun,
such as “江南” (literally meaning River South) “老虎灶” (literally meaning Tiger Stove). The second kind is the
common noun, such as “深闺”(literally meaning Deep Boudoir) and “红尘” (literally meaning Red Dust). The third
kind is adjective, such as “古朴” (literally meaning Primitively Simple) and “深居简出” (literally meaning Secluded
Dwelling and Seldom Going Out). Many of such words don’t have an exact connotation. They addict themselves to the
ambiguity of meaning which helps to build up a powerful artistic perception and emotion in the heart of readers ant the
writer himself. What information the text provides is actually not important at all. In terms of sentence, Chinese essays
look illogical sometimes such as when there is no subject, object or predicate in the sentence or the collocation of
sentence elements seems improper in meaning (Wang 2006:2). This is due to the fact that Chinese writer/reader doesn’t
pay much attention to how the correct words with exact meaning correctly collocate and combine into a sentence. It’s
quite different from English authorship/readership which deliberately supplies every necessary element to realize
grammatically-correct sentences. In terms of discourse, Chinese writing always displays itself to be loose-structured in
form whereas English writing gives great importance to cohesion and coherence which make the text strictly-structured
in form. Chinese writing, especially Chinese poetry and essay, always arrange the text by placing the images one after
another. Links are not needed as long as the image following the previous one can naturally conjure up in the readers a
part of the whole picture or certain artistic sentiment/perception which are always the purpose of the poetry or many
essays like this one “巷”.
All of the above tells the background assumptions of Chinese essay readership which differs greatly from the English
essay readership. It can be concluded that Chinese readers aesthetically assume that an essay should be ambiguous and
implicit in meaning or content, thus leaving a big room for artistic perception, and should be loose-structured, thus
serving as a spiritual relaxation for readers. Such major aesthetic assumptions are actually vacant in the mind of English
readers, thus making the translation, if literally rendered, difficult to be understood and appreciated.
3. Strategies to Deal with the Shortage in Zhang Peiji’s Translation of this Essay.
Considering such shortage of background assumptions of Chinese essay readership, we are going to look at how the
famous Chinese essay translator Zhang Peiji produce a translation understandable and even appreciable to English
readers. The 95-year-old professor is one of the most celebrated translators in China, especially crowned in English
translation of Chinese modern essays which is represented by his translation series of Selected Modern Chinese Essays.
The tetralogy has won a popular compliment both in translation profession and academic field (Zhu, 2000; Han &
Wang, 2004). So it’s believed that a review of Zhang’s translation may indicate some effective and adequate solutions
that can ever be employed to the fullest to tackle the shortages of background assumption in vocabulary, sentence and
discourse common in English translation of Chinese modern essays.
As we have discussed three aspects of shortage in the previous part, we will analyze his translation strategies from these
aspects. With regard to words, several strategies are adopted by this translator. First, the technique of paraphrasing:
① 这种巷，常在江南的小城市中，有如古代的少女，躲在僻静的深闺，轻易不肯抛头露面。
Often tucked away in a small town south of the Yangtse River, the lane, like a maiden of ancient times
hidden away in a secluded boudoir, is reluctant to make its appearance in public.
In this sentence, the translator used paraphrasing to ensure the foreign readers can understand culture-specific words,
though the cultural elements have totally vanished through paraphrasing. This lose of meaning sometimes is necessary
since most foreign readers don’t have enough background assumptions to understand these culture-bound words. The
word “江南” always allow us to think of drizzle, beauty, etc, such as in “日出江花红胜火，春来江水绿如蓝，能不忆
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江南” and “正是江南好风景，落花时节又逢君”. Actually it is filled with profound cultural connotation which is hard
to render. It is just paraphrased into “south of the Yangtze River” to make it understandable to foreign readers. The
ambiguous cultural meaning has been transformed into a specific geological location which exactly complies with
foreign readership convention requiring the exactitude of meaning. And “深闺” which refers to a forbidden room of the
maiden has been translated into “secluded boudoir”, which generally expressed the situation and nature of the room.
Besides, transliteration plus explanation has appeared here and there in the translation. Here the following are two
examples.
②......颓然地走到老虎灶上去提水
shuffling languidly in their slippers towards a Laohuzao, the shop specializing in selling boiled water...
③ 它可能是一条现代的乌衣巷......
It may be a modern version of Wu Yi Xiang, a special residential area of nobility in the Jin Dynasty southeast
of today’s Nanjing.
Chinese readers are quite familiar with the two words, namely “老虎灶” and “乌衣巷” as they have built up many
background assumptions related to the words in question. In order to maintain the uniqueness of the two matters and to
make them understandable, Zhang transliterates them and adds explanation to them. As both words don’t contain much
ambiguous cultural meaning, the elaborate explanation is very adequate for foreign readership to understand them.
Third, domestication also occurs somewhere in this passage. Domestication here means the culture-specific elements in
the original text are eliminated and replaced by native expressions familiar to target readers. For example:
④ 隔绝了市廛的红尘......
Cut off from the hustle and bustle of busy cities.
In this example, this very word “红尘” has been converted into an English expression “hustle and bustle”, which
technique can supply some value of English culture to the loss of the cultural meaning specific to Chinese language.
The word “红尘” can be frequently read in ancient Chinese poets, such as “一骑红尘妃子笑，无人知是荔枝来”. If
it’s literally translated into “red dust”, however, the English readers who lack related background assumptions will
definitely be confused, thus communication will become a failure.
In translation, the translator also employs simplification to extract the basic referential meaning. As a result, noble
words with rich literary clothes transform themselves into plain and simple words, such as:
⑤ 墙里常是人家的竹园，修竹深深，天籁细细......
Inside the walls are residents’ gardens with dense groves of tall bamboos as well as soft sounds of nature.
The above target sentence of ⑤ sees the missing of poetic sensation in the original three words: “人家”, “修竹”, “天籁”.
The word “人家” also contains rich cultural meaning and often associates us with a “cozy and happy family living a
simple life" just as in the poems “小桥流水人家” and “远上寒山石径斜，白云深处有人家”. Zhang Peiji translated it
into “residents”, a very neutral word without poetic aesthetics but it’s easy to understand for English readers. Similarly,
the noble words “修竹” were rendered “tall bamboos” and “天籁” simply rendered “sound of nature”. In order to realize
comprehensibility, both English phrases have lost the elegance and nobility to which the Chinese words are bound.
Fifth, concretization has also been used. Concretization here means making clear abstract words with unclear or illusive
meaning. An example as following:
⑥ 可是重门叠户，讳莫如深......
Where each family, secluded behind closed doors......
⑦ 是城市喧嚣扰攘中的一带洞天幽境......
It is a heavenly abode in the midst of confusion.
The three Chinese phrases actually don’t have very exact meaning though they refer to some state known to Chinese
readership. Without such assumption, English readers can hardly understand them, to say nothing of appreciation.
Consequently, Zhang must concretize these words, i.e., to make their meaning specific and exact. “重门叠户，讳莫如
深” has been translated into “secluded behind closed doors”, a very specific and vivid description of the state of
detachment among neighbors. Also, the referent of “洞天幽境” is also abstract and mysterious. What place it refers to
is unclear which, actually, revealing the essence of Chinese writing and which also accounts for its aesthetic value.
In terms of the sentence, because of the improper loss or placing or collocation of subject, predicate or object in the
sentence, which is totally unacceptable to English authorship/readership, some certain changes in the structure and
sentence elements are desirable in translation. The original sentence may be called illogical, but in order to rid the
derogatory sense, I will call this Chinese writing style superlogical. As described in the first sentence of this paragraph,
there are three types of superlogical sentences in Chinese writing, namely loss of subject, predicate, object, etc.,
misplacing of and improper collocation of these elements. Here are three examples respectively and successively.
⑧ 走过几家墙门，都是紧紧关着，不见一个人影，因为那都是人家的后门。
You will find the doors in the walls close shut without a soul in sight because they are back doors to some
households.
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⑨ 不论什么时候，你向巷中踅去，都如宁静的黄昏，可以清晰地听到自己的足音
At any hour of day, you can even distinctly hear in the dusk-like quiet your own footsteps.
⑩ 那是一种和平的静穆，而不是阴森和肃杀。
There you will experience a kind of peaceful calmness rather than gloomy sternness.
In source sentence⑧, there is no subject in the first three clauses. But Chinese readers can understand the sentence
according to the context. Through the knowledge of the situation of the verbal communication, the first and third
subject must be “you”, that is, the reader. And through referring to the earlier utterance, the readers can know that the
second missed subject must be “doors”. These losses are common in Chinese writing and acceptable to Chinese readers.
However, the loss of subject can not be tolerated in English writing. Therefore, “you” and “doors” must be present in
the English translation.
In source sentence⑨, the original clause “都如宁静的黄昏” reads illogical and the correct arrangement should be “宁
静都如黄昏”. Misplace of elements are common in Chinese poetry for the reason of end rhythm. This sentence may
also fares likewise. And in English writing this phenomenon is rare and it needs proper rearrangement. That’s why the
clause has been translated into “dusk-like quiet”.
In the last example, “那是” doesn’t have an exact referent (it may refer to the situation, scene or atmosphere), which is
common in Chinese essay writing. If literally translated into “that is”, it will look queer when collocating with
“calmness” and “sternness”. Zhang herein made “you” the subject and “experience” the predicate, hence the sentence
becomes logical and natural to English readership.
In terms of discourse, it’s found that the English translation by Zhang is also as loose-structured as the original text,
though the looseness of ST is realized by the non-cohesion between clauses while that of TT by frequent parentheses,
especially in the form of adverbial or adverbial clause. The structural looseness can be measured by the average number
of commas in a sentence, based on which the structural looseness of ST and TT are compared as follows.
Table 1. Average Number of Commas per Sentence

Source Text Target Text
Average Number of 2.72 2.36
Commas per Sentence
As shown in table 1, the average numbers of commas in original Chinese and English translation are largely close,
revealing the similar structural looseness of both language versions. This finding has never been indicated by the related
literature.
As required by the above-mentioned differences between Chinese and English essay writing, necessary coherence and
cohesion devices will make the translation acceptable to English readers who lack the background aesthetic assumption
to appreciate Chinese essays. Just as we have mentioned, Chinese discourse prefers juxtaposition of images. Hence, the
English translation should have linking words to make it cohesive and device to make it coherent. In this translation,
Zhang has used some cohesion words, such as relative clause(the third sentence in paragraph 2, the first sentence in
paragraph 3,etc.) and adverbials(over there, from time to time, occasionally, suddenly, etc.). Through these words, the
target text becomes a whole. Secondly, the translator also made use of some coherence devices, such as repetition (the
word “lane” has been repeated 13 times throughout the text) and pronoun (“it” and “there” have been used to refer to
the lane).
Overall, the findings suggest that Zhang’s translation of “巷” has made some compromises to deal with the shortage of
background assumptions of English readership. On one hand, the looseness of structure is maintained, though by
different means, in the English translation, which may seem exotic for English readership but grammatically acceptable.
On the other hand, such translation techniques as paraphrasing, explanation, domestication and concretization are
employed by Zhang, which explicate the implicit meaning of vocabulary and sentence, thus shifting from Chinese essay
readership convention to English essay readership expectation. These findings are quite interesting yet not found in
previous literature which mainly focuses on the equivalence of form (e.g., Yu, 2004), content (e.g., Zhu, 2000; Liu,
2001) or aesthetic value (e.g., Lai, 2009).
4. Evaluation of Zhang’s Translation from Rhythm, Style and Spirit
Fettered by English readers’ shortage of background assumption to understand and appreciate the specialty of this
Chinese essay, Zhang has tried to make the target text understandable while maintaining the content and loose structure
of the source text. Here the paper would like to analyze the translation according to three other criteria crucial to
language-specific essay writing and readership convention, namely, rhythm, writing style and spirit, apart from the
content and structure.
The rhythm of a text can be analyzed through the length of a segment (a part of sentence or the sentence itself
unseparated by any punctuation mark). The reason why the paper analyzes the length of a segment consists in that when
you read aloud, the rhythm of the writing can be felt. Here is an example of this analysis. (one “-” refers to a Chinese
character or an English word. A segment less than 6 words should be regarded short segment.) When you read the text,
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the short segment can make your emotion and energy intensive and the long segment your emotion and energy flow
naturally and slowly.
Source text: 墙里常是人家的竹园，修竹深深，天籁细细；春来时还有几枝娇艳的桃花杏花，娉娉婷婷，
从墙头殷勤地摇曳红袖，向行人招手。
---------，----，----，--------------，----，----------，-----。
(Long,short,short,long,short,long,short)
Analysis: it can be seen from these marks that in the source text, short and long segments are interwoven to make the
passage sound gentle, yet not too relaxing.
Target text: Inside the walls are residents’ gardens with dense groves of tall bamboos as well as soft sounds of
nature. In spring, beautiful peach and apricot blossoms atop the walls, like graceful girls waving their red
sleeves, will sway hospitably to beckon the pedestrians.
-------------------. --, --------, -------, -------.
(Long,short,long,long,long)
Analysis: The target text is mainly composed of long segments, making this part read much dull and a little bit short of
energy. So this translation can be better if the length of sequential segments have been shortened.
Secondly, as for the writing styles of source text, the source text was written with simple but graceful words and
phrases. The whole passage sounds a chat between the author and the readers. But the writer also made the simplicity of
the text tinged with poetic sensation. Here is an example:
它可能是一条现代的乌衣巷，家家有自己的一本哀乐帐，一部兴衰史，可是重门叠户，讳莫如深，夕
阳影里，野花闲草，燕子低飞，寻觅归家。
The first three segments seem that the author is telling a story, full of plain words and expression. But in the last few
segments, four words make a segment, enabling them sound poetic lines. Now let’s take a look at the translation of this
part.
It may be a modern version of Wu Yi Xiang, a special residential area of nobility in the Jin Dynasty southeast
of today’s Nanjing, where each family, secluded behind closed doors, has its own covered-up story of joys and
sorrows, and rise and decline. When the sun is setting, swallows will fly over wild flowers and grass on their
way to their nests.
In contrast with the 53 words of the source, the target text has 62 words due to the explanation of Wu Yi Xiang, which
makes the text lengthy. Besides, the translation seems a plain description of the lane, suffering from the lack of poetic
style.
Last, the spirit of the translation. The “spirit” here means the mental perception and spiritual state invoked onto the
reader by the text. As the target text of Zhang has maintained the majority of the original content as well as the original
loose structure, the same revelation spirit can also be revealed in his translation. Here is an example.
巷，是是城市建筑艺术中一篇飘逸恬静的散文，一幅古雅冲淡的图画。
The lane, in terms of the art of urban architecture, is like a piece of prose of gentle gracefulness or a painting of
classic elegance and simplicity.
The translation has kept the same idea and spirit of the author. The advantage of the lane has been proposed and the
author’s preference of it has been fully revealed through both Chinese and English languages.
Therefore, it can be seen that the translation is, as a result of the grammatical cohesion requirement of English language,
not relaxed enough in term of rhythm. For the same reason, the writing style is short of some poetic qualities prevalent
in the source text. Nevertheless, the spirit of the original essay is maintained through the equivalence of content and
loose structure.
In terms of the content, Zhang’s translation is definitely adequate for comprehension. But because of the difference of
background assumptions, the aesthetic value of English readers differs from Chinese one. So appreciation of the essay
translation is itself hard to be achieved among English readership. As each aesthetic value has been largely bound to
each language, this gap, I think, can only be bridged by cross-language and cross-culture communication in order to
make both Chinese and English people know each other’s unique aesthetic value of literature writing.
5. Conclusion
This paper starts with the discussion of the biggest obstacle for English readers to comprehend and appreciate English
translation of Chinese modern essays, i.e., the shortage of background assumptions to construct necessary cognitive
contexts to read Chinese essays, specially reflected in the shortage of expectation towards an essay with ambiguous and
implicit meaning, with a loose structure, and with gentle rhythm, poetic style and revelation spirit.
With the unique findings that a compromised strategy has been adopted by Zhang to deal with the shortage of
background assumptions in English readership, specifically the shift of ambiguous content, gentle rhythm and poetic
style on one hand, and the maintenance of loose structure and revelation spirit on the other, this paper has enriched the
present literature by attempting a new perspective, i.e., cognitive context, to study English translation of Chinese
modern essays, and also by serving as evaluation reference for English translation of Chinese modern essays.
IJALEL 5(5):96-101, 2016 101
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Identity Styles: Predictors of Reading and Writing Abilities

Zohre Mohamadi (Corresponding author)
English Teaching Department, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
Fariba Haji Mokhtari

English Teaching Department, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran

Published: 01-09-2016 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.5p.102 URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.5n.5p.102
Abstract
How the individual differences prime different learning process is well addressed in literature. But, what is missing
from these analyses is how learners with different identity styles approach reading and writing skills and if different
identity styles can predict differentiated language performance. The present study aims at investigating the relationship
between identity styles, and reading/writing skills of Iranian intermediate female EFL learners. One the basis of the
results of Nelson language proficiency test, 120 participants were selected to participate in this research. Participants'
answers to Berzonsky's Identity Style Inventory (ISI3) and reading and writing parts of Preliminary English Test were
analyzed. The results indicated that informational and normative identity styles were found to be positively correlated
and diffuse-avoidant style was negatively correlated with reading and writing abilities whereas commitment identity
didn't bear any significant relationships. The findings also indicated that informational style acted as the best predictor
of these skills. Implications for language teachers are suggested.
Keywords: Reading and writing skills, Informational identity styles, normative identity styles, Diffuse avoidant style,
Commitment style
1. Introduction
It is a long time that identity is a major construct in the social and behavioral science. Psychologists have conducted a
large amount of research on the nature and development of identity and the relevant concepts such as self and self-
identity over many decades. What the word “Identity” basically describes is how a person answers the question “Who
am I?” Sharma and Sharma (2010) said, "Identity is an umbrella term used throughout the social sciences to describe an
individual's comprehension of himself or herself as a discrete, separate entity" (p. 119).
Erikson (1968) believed that one of the most important developmental challenges that young adults and adolescents
must successfully get over is the identity formation. When individuals face with a task related to the identity formation,
they need to decide on very important issues in their lives like believing in a religion, adopting some political ideas or
following a profession. In other words, in order to govern and regulate their lives effectively, individuals need to
construct a balanced and meaningful identity structure, which enables them to preserve a sense of self-continuity across
space and time and provides them with a particular set of beliefs and references that addresses interpreting experiences
and self-relevant information, solving problems and making decisions (Vleioras & Bosma, 2005).
In the case of language learning, the ways in which language learners perceive their relationship with the social world,
how that relationship is developed over time and space, and how the learners become aware of opportunities for the
future, are influenced by their identity.
Thus identity and language learning are closely related to each other. Furthermore, language learners' identity is
suggested to be described as disposed to change, multiple and a site of struggle (Norton & Toohey, 2001). According to
Vleioras and Bosma (2005), particular features of the learners' personality and mind as well as the acquisition of a new
set of lexical, grammatical and phonological rules are involved in L2 learning which may inhibit or support this process.
2. Background and Purpose
In order to understand the reasons of students’ success and failure in English language learning, we need to examine the
role of identity and self in this process. It is obvious that although researchers in other parts of the world have conducted
a large number of studies on the second/foreign language learners' identity, the analysis of the relationship between EFL
learning and learners' identity seems to be relatively disregarded in Iran. Thus there seems to be a clear need to enhance
the knowledge of ELT research community of Iran in terms of the relationship between identity styles and language
learning process, noting that this issue has largely gone unnoticed up to now.
Regarding this, the present study examined the performance of EFL learners in writing and reading based on
Berzonsky's Identity Style Inventory scale. It is worth noting that Berzonsky (1988) presented a social-cognitive
IJALEL 5(5):102-108, 2016 103
perspective and this perspective posit stylistic differences in how adolescents process and carry out tasks about
information and issues which are related to identity. According to Berzonsky (1990), the interaction that people
continually have with the social and physical world is what the identity develops in. It was believed that the occurrence
of this developmental process is through cognitive constructions of individuals' sense of their identity (who people think
they are) and their view toward the reality of life (Berzonsky, 1986, 1990, 2002). In this model, it is suggested that
identity is a concept which is constructed by self, so the strategies that adolescents employ to form and sustain their
identity should receive the main focus (Berzonsky, 2003).
Berzonsky's ISI scale seeks to classify how people respond to decisions. The scale sorts people according to whether
they process through information-orientation, normative orientation, or diffuse-orientation. In most of the research
done, Berzonsky uses these three dimensions. The third revision in 1992 is available for use and it adds commitment as
a category (Berzonsky, 1993). This subscale was designed to assess strength of identity commitment, so it was referred
to as the stability of decisions of personality (Berzonsky, 1992).
This model proposed that individuals with an informational identity style are self-reflective in relation to the issues
which are relevant to identity and actively attempt to find process and evaluate information. An informational
processing orientation is typical of adolescents who have doubts about self-construction and are interested in evaluating
various dimensions of their identity (Berzonsky, 1990, 2004). Moreover, an informationally-oriented individual entails
a willingness to investigate multiple solutions to a given problem and to explore several options before committing to
any one (Berzonsky, 1993). These conscientious youth who employ openness to new experiences and enjoy their
parents' support are associated with decisional planning, extroversion, cognitive complexity and psychological control
(Berzonsky, 1990; Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000, 2005; Berzonsky & Neimeyer, 1994; Dollinger, 1995; Smits et al., 2008;
Soenens, Duriez & Goossens, 2005).
On the other hand, normative individuals try to conform to and rely on the expectations, prescriptions and values that
the key figures in their lives (such as teachers, parents, authority figures) carry and consider them as appropriate. These
individuals strictly accept their identity structure with no objection (Berzonsky, 2004). They rigidly hold organized
commitments regarding their identity and attempt in a defensive way to save and maintain these commitments
(Berzonsky, 1990). It was also reported that a normative style which employs inflexibility is regarded as highly
committed. Moreover, a normative individual is associated with self-control and expects other people to favor blind
submission (Duriez & Soenens, 2006; Soenens et al., 2005). Additionally, according to Berzonsky (2004), the
individuals with high normative scores display a low capacity to endure ambiguity and are highly closed regarding their
cognition.
Berzonsky (1990) defined diffuse-avoidant individuals as those who defensively avoid and procrastinate the issue of
decision making until a course of action is made necessary by situational demands. It is worth stating that these
individuals try very hard to stay away from personal conflicts and the problems which are related to their identity. It
was reported that the major characteristics of the adolescents with this type of identity style are dependence on
maladaptive coping strategies (Berzonsky, 1992b; Soenens et al., 2005), behavioral disorders (Adams et al., 2001),
tendency toward the feelings of shame (Lutwak, Ferrari & Cheek, 1998) and pre-decisional fear (Berzonsky & Ferrari,
1996). In addition, these individuals who are highly neurotic possess low level of conscientiousness and agreeableness
(Dollinger, 1995; Duriez, Soenens & Beyers, 2004). Although the adolescents with a diffuse-avoidant identity style
have been found to score low on psychological control, cognitive persistence and awareness of their own personality,
they score high on identity diffusion and cognitive strategies that do not function in a satisfactory way (Berzonsky &
Ferrari, 1996; Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000, 2005; Dollinger, 1995; Smits et al., 2008).
In order to fulfill the objectives of the current study, the following research questions are proposed:
1. Does informational identity style have any relationship with reading comprehension and writing performance
of Iranian intermediate EFL learners?
2. Does normative identity style have any relationship with reading comprehension and writing performance of
Iranian intermediate EFL learners?
3. Does diffuse-avoidant identity style have any relationship with reading comprehension and writing
performance of Iranian intermediate EFL learners?
4. Does commitment have any relationship with reading comprehension and writing performance of Iranian
intermediate EFL learners?
5. To what extent do the identity styles predict reading comprehension and writing performance of Iranian
intermediate EFL learners?
3. Methodology
Before conducing the first phase of the current study, the researchers obtained permission from the heads of Zabansara
Foreign Language Institute for administration of the tests. The researchers also prepared a piece of paper for the
participants explaining about the research and asked them about their consent to participate implying that there will be
no extra credit as an advantage of participation but convincing them on the benefits of the findings of the study for
foreign language learning.
The investigation in this research was completed in three main phases: First of all, the researcher gave the language
proficiency test of Nelson 200 C (as mentioned earlier) to 181 students in order to assess their level of proficiency. Then
IJALEL 5(5):102-108, 2016 104
the researchers provided the subjects with some directions about the content of the test and the way they should answer
the items. Following this, the participants answered the fifty-item Nelson test in 45 minutes. It is worth to say that after
scoring the papers, approximately 60 students were excluded from the research because of their low score on this
language proficiency test. Thus the Students whose scores were one standard deviation above and below the mean
(Mean 18.64 , SD 7.227) were estimated to be intermediate learners and selected as members of the sample.
In the second phase of investigation, the researchers administered the Iranian version of Berzonsky's Identity Style
Inventory (ISI3) in order to specify the identity styles. Giving directions by the researcher about these 40 self-
descriptive statements and answering them by the students took approximately 25 minutes. For each individual, the
number of items indicating each of his/her identity styles (as described in instrumentation) was computed and then the
dominant identity style of that adolescent is determined.
In the third phase, the 120 homogeneous subjects were expected to complete the answer sheet of PET reading and
writing in 90 minutes. In this stage, the participants were also provided with the directions, if needed. After scoring this
standard test which included two raters for the writing part in order to get inter-rater reliability, suitable formulas of
statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) that are illustrated in data analysis, were utilized for evaluating the
relationships between the different identity styles of all the students with their reading comprehension and writing
ability.
As mentioned in earlier, this study aimed at revealing the existence of the relationship between identity styles (based on
Berzonsky's revised model), reading comprehension and writing ability of the Iranian Intermediate EFL learners. The
related analysis and the results of the study are discussed as follow.
First, the findings of descriptive and inferential statistics of these two language skills along with the three identity styles
(informational, normative and diffuse-avoidant) and the subscale of identity commitment are indicated with regards to
each of the research questions. In the next phase, Correlations and regression indices are calculated in order to see the
relationship between variables of the study.
4. Data analysis
4.1 Descriptive Statistics
The descriptive statistics of each of the scales included in the study are presented in Table 1. These descriptive statistics
represent mean, SD, Cronbach’s alpha and the number of participants.
Table 1. The Descriptive Statistics of the Study
Cronbach’s
alpha Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Writing .81 4 20 15.89 3.748
reading .76 18 35 27.50 4.928
Informational .79 17.00 46.00 32.3193 5.04544
Normative .80 16.00 44.00 27.1849 4.64861
Diffuse-avoidant .83 15.00 38.00 28.6303 4.35280
Commitment
.76 19.00 40.00 28.8319 4.57391
N= 120
As shown in Table 1, the descriptive statistics show that all the scales have enjoyed an acceptable level of reliability.
Moreover, the mean and SD of identity styles show that the level of students in normative and informational identity
styles were approximately high based on Brezonskey (1990) and their diffuse/avoidance was average. Additionally, the
learners' reading and writing scores were analyzed in terms of their level.
IJALEL 5(5):102-108, 2016 105
This should be noted that Cohen’s Kappa for inter-rater reliability of writing scores was .82 which is strong. It is worth
noting that the PET results reveal that the learners’ L2 reading comprehension was more than average and their writing
performance was high.
4.2 Correlation Analysis

As mentioned above, the aim of the four research questions was investigating that whether there exists any relationship
between the learners’ identity styles and these two decoding and encoding language skills. In order to answer these
questions, Pearson product moment correlations were calculated among the variables. Table 2 illustrates the related
statistical calculations.
Table 2. The Correlations among Identity Styles, Reading, and Writing

Language skills
Reading Writing
Informational .559** .512**
Normative .338** .302*
Diffuse-avoidant -.423** -.230*
Commitment .218 .183

*p< .05
** p< .01
The findings indicated that the L2 learners’ normative, informational, and diffuse identity styles were significantly
related to their reading and writing ability. The results also showed that students’ commitment did not significantly
correlate with their reading (r = .218) and writing ability (r = .183). Whereas, informational identity style bore a
significantly positive correlation with reading (r = .559, p< .01) and writing (r = .512, p< .01), and normative was also
positively correlated with reading (r = .338, p< .01) and writing ability (r = .302, p< .05). On the other hand, diffuse-
avoidant identity style was negatively correlated with reading (r = -.423, p< .01), and writing (r = -.230, p< .05).
As it is indicated in table 2, informational and normative identity styles are positively correlated and diffuse- avoidant
identity styles are negatively correlated with reading and writing skills whereas the subscale of commitment has no
significant relation with reading and writing performance of the EFL learners.
4.3 Regression analysis
The second round of analysis was to examine whether identity styles were able to predict L2 reading and writing.
Therefore, the regression indices were calculated (noting that the regression assumptions including linearity, normality
and homogeneity of variances were all calculated and the results revealed that there was no concern regarding their
violation). The result of the regression analysis showed that the EFL learners’ identity styles significantly predicted
their reading and writing ability. First, the regression analysis was conducted for reading comprehension and identity
styles.
Table 3. Betas, t level and Significance Level for the Multiple Linear Regression for Identity Styles and Reading
Identity Informational Normative Diffuse-avoidant
styles
Beta t sig Beta t sig Beta t sig

Language
skill
reading 0.43 5.31 0.000 0.18 2.39 0.018 .201 2.47 0.015
As seen in the above table, informational identity style was the strongest predictor of Iranian EFL learners' performance
in terms of reading comprehension (t = 5.31, p = .000). Moreover, the data analysis showed that normative identify style
was the second best predictor of reading comprehension (t = 2.39, p = .018). The data analysis also showed that diffuse-
avoidant identity style negatively predicted reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners (t = -2.47, p = .015).
IJALEL 5(5):102-108, 2016 106
The next phase of the analysis included analyzing the regression indices for writing performance and identity styles of
Iranian intermediate EFL learners.
Table 4. Betas, t level and Significance Level for the Multiple Linear Regression for Identity Styles and Writing
Identity Informational Normative Diffuse-avoidant
styles
Language Beta t sig

skill Beta t sig Beta t sig
Writing 0.25 4.3 0.000 0.25 3.51 0.001 0.24 3.21 0.001
As shown in table 4, informational identity style was again the strongest predictor of writing performance of Iranian
EFL learners (t = 4.3, p = .000). Moreover, normative identify style also significantly predicted writing performance but
in a weaker position comparing the informational style (t = 3.51, p = .001). The data analysis also indicated that diffuse-
avoidant identity style negatively predicted writing performance (t = -3.21, p = .001) of Iranian EFL learners.
Based on the findings of the regression analysis (table 3 and 4), it was found that all identity styles were significant
predictors of reading and writing in English. Getting back to the research questions of the study, it can be pointed that
all identity styles were related to reading comprehension and writing performance but commitment as an indicator of
identity strength had no relationship with the performance in these two skills.
4.4 Results and Discussion
The immediate objective of this study was to find out the existence of any relationship between informational identity
processing orientation, reading comprehension and writing performance of the EFL learners in the context of Iran.
The results showed a positive correlation between informative individuals and their writing and reading ability.
According to Kaplan and Flum (2010), the adolescents who are inclined toward the informational style are highly
associated with proactive self-exploration. Furthermore, they are interested in gathering information, evaluating
alternatives and making reasonable decisions.
Based on Berzonsky (1990) and Berzonsky and Kuk (2000), these individuals also process higher cognitive complexity,
independence, problem-focused coping efforts, self-reflection, openness and motivation which all play crucial roles in
second language acquisition.
The second objective was about the relationship between normative identity style, reading and writing ability of
intermediate EFL learners. The distribution of scores in this study indicated that the normative-oriented individuals
were also found to be positively correlated with reading comprehension and writing performance.
Since the research done in this field introduced the normative adolescents as possessing a well-defined sense of
educational purpose (Berzonsky, 2003) and being extremely tied up in norms (Berzonsky, 1990), it can be inferred that
these individuals are more likely to follow the standards and the rules they have previously learnt and use referent
group's advices and suggestions in doing reading and writing tasks. According to Berzonsky and Kuk (2005), since the
normative students have a high need for structure on how to do a task, they may function satisfactorily in well-
structured educational settings, so they obtain better scores comparing the diffuse-avoidant individuals. However, in
more open-ended situations in which they have to engage in behavior monitoring and time managing, they may suffer
from a disadvantage due to their lack of autonomy.
The third objective was to explore the connection between the diffuse-avoidant identity style and the two above-
mentioned language skills. Analyzing the data, the researchers came up with the result that this identity style failed to be
positively correlated with each of these literacy components. This negative correlation is supported by the evidence that
diffuse-avoidant adolescents are negatively correlated with cognitive persistence, self-reflection and conscientiousness
(Berzonsky & Ferrari, 1996).
It should also be mentioned that these adolescents extremely tend to delay decision making until a course of action is
dictated by situational demands. Thus due to this avoidance which is the result of pre-decisional panic and also because
of their dysfunctional cognitive strategies, these students perform poorly in reading comprehension and writing tasks.
There are also a number of studies underlying that the diffuse-avoidant individuals are connected to the undesirable
features that directly affect learning a new language. These characteristics include limited commitment, avoidant
coping, self-handicapping, excuse making and efforts to rationalize negative performances (Berzonsky, 1990;
Berzonsky & Ferrari, 1996).
Investigation about the relation between commitment identity and reading and writing skills indicated existence of no
relation.
As with last objective which seeks to find out the best predictor of reading and writing skills, the analysis recognized
the informative adolescents as the best predictor of success and failure in both reading and writing skills which
IJALEL 5(5):102-108, 2016 107
supported the findings of Berzonsky (2004) and Berzonsky and Kuk (2000, 2005). Concerning this, Kaplan and Flum
(2010) also reported that the individuals using an informational style have an inclination to learn beyond the given tasks
through seeking new information. In other words, these learners are more likely to engage in the activities which
demand them to go beyond learning the presented materials.
Regarding the strong association of these adolescents with autonomy, creativity and discovery in learning, it is also
worth noting that their ability in making playful decisions can be considered as a decisive factor in planning, drafting
and revising stages of writing and consequently developing a well-organized written task.
5. Conclusion
The overall results of the correlational analysis underlined that the individuals are inclined towards different identity
styles and these identity styles are closely connected to linguistic performance of Iranian intermediate EFL learners,
especially in terms of reading and writing skills.
Therefore, it can be concluded from the findings of the current study that the way the language learners tackle or
approach new information or a subject area is an important issue in their reading comprehension and writing
performance. Regarding this, while informationally-oriented individuals use their creativity, inferring ability and other
mental resources to make sense of a reading text or to perform a writing task, normatively-oriented individuals use
others' advices, suggestions and prescriptions to understand a reading text or to write in English. Moreover, diffuse-
avoidant adolescents try to avoid reading a passage or writing on given topics in English. The findings also indicated
that the informational processing orientation is the best identity type that can act as the predictor of success or failure of
the language learners in both reading and writing performance. Meanwhile, the normative identity style can also
positively predict these language skills but in a weaker position in comparison with the informational style.
Additionally, the statistical analysis displayed that diffuse -avoidant style negatively predicts reading and writing.
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A Study on English Preparatory Program EFL Learners’

Beliefs about Language Learning in Relation to
Gender, Second Foreign Language Knowledge
and Foreign Country Experience
Murat Hismanoglu (Corresponding author)
Faculty of Arts and Science, Usak University, Usak, Turkey

Abstract
This study aims at investigating preparatory program EFL learners’ beliefs about language learning as well as the
effects of gender, second foreign language knowledge and foreign country experience on language learners’ beliefs
about foreign language learning. After presenting the related literature with respect to the topic of language learners’
beliefs about foreign language learning, it continues with the methodology section that describes a quantitative research
study in which 149 preparatory program EFL learners from the Foreign Languages School of a state university located
in the west part of Turkey participated. The participants of the study had the same linguistic proficiencies (A1-
elementary level). The paper concludes by indicating the findings of the research and also by making some
recommendations for language teachers to enable teachers to design lessons that meet the needs of individual learners
when teaching English as a second/foreign language (TESL/TEFL).
Keywords: beliefs, foreign language learning, preparatory program EFL learners, BALLI
1. Introduction
Over the last thirty years, researchers in the field of foreign language learning and teaching have investigated foreign
language learners’ individual characteristics which can affect their success in language learning (Vibulphol, 2004).
Beliefs about language learning have been one of the research focuses and attracted a number of researchers in that
success relies less on materials, techniques, and linguistic analyses and more on what goes on inside learners and
between the people in the classroom environment (Stevick, 1980). As Horwitz (1987) states, foreign language learners
possess some presumptions about language and language learning and these beliefs have a strong impact on language
learners’ behaviors in the language learning process. Therefore, students’ beliefs should be explored to enable teachers
to design lessons that meet the needs and expectations of individual learners (Brown, 2009).
The term belief has been defined by many researchers. Horwitz refers to “beliefs” by utilizing the terms such as
preconceptions (1985), preconceived ideas (1987), and preconceived notions (1988). Huang (1997) states that beliefs
about language learning are “preconceptions language learners have about the task of learning the target language”
(p. 29). According to Peacock (2001), beliefs are “psychologically held understandings, premises, or propositions about
the world that are felt to be true” (p. 178). Kalaja and Barcelos (2003) stress that beliefs are “opinions and ideas that
learners (and teachers) have about the task of learning a second/foreign language” (p.10). Horwitz (2008) emphasizes
that comprehending students’ beliefs is also to be aware of their reaction in the classroom learning environment since
dealing with learners’ beliefs is considering an issue that has been regarded as basic to their academic progress.
Most researchers agree that language learners have different beliefs about language learning and that these language
learners’ different beliefs about language learning may consciously or unconsciously affect their approaches or
behaviors in language learning. For instance, if a student believes that learning a foreign language mainly consists of
learning pronunciation, s/he will spend most of her/his energy on learning the segmental (e.g. vowel and consonant
phonemes) and suprasegmental phonemes (e.g. stress, pitch, intonation, and juncture) of a language in formal language
learning. Although positive beliefs are beneficial for language learners due to facilitating language learning process and
stimulating language learners to reflect their potential power, negative beliefs are detrimental to language learners
owing to hindering language learning process. To illustrate, Mantle-Bromley (1995) stressed that language learners with
positive attitudes and realistic language-related beliefs are more inclined to behave in a more productive way in
language learning than those with negative attitudes. However, language learners with negative attitudes and unrealistic
language-related beliefs become less motivated to take part in classroom activities in the EFL classroom.
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 110
Horwitz is accepted to be the first researcher to identify language learners’ beliefs in a systematic way. In 1988,
Horwitz designed a 34-item scale called Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (Mokhtari, 2007). In the BALLI,
language learners’ beliefs are assessed under five major subcategories: (1) foreign language aptitude; (2) the difficulty
of language learning; (3) the nature of language learning; (4) learning and communication strategies; and (5)
motivation and expectations (Horwitz, 1987). Since 1988, the BALLI has been widely utilized by some other
researchers (e.g. Kuntz, 1996; Oz, 2007; Fujiwara, 2012) to reveal language learners’ opinions about language learning.
For instance, Oz (2007) investigated Turkish EFL learners’ (n=470) beliefs about L2 learning in secondary education
and revealed that language learners’ beliefs about language learning had variability with respect to social and
educational contexts, age, gender, and stages of language learning.
In the literature, there are a number of research studies that have focused on definitions of beliefs about language
learning (e.g.Horwitz, 1985, 1987, 1988; Peacock, 2001; Kalaja & Barcelos, 2003), learners’ beliefs about language
learning (e.g. Diab, 2006; Ariogul, Unal, Onursal, 2009; Ghobadi and Khodadady, 2011), teachers’ beliefs about
language learning (e.g. Johnson, 1994; Schulz, 2001), comparison of learners’ beliefs with teachers’ beliefs (e.g. Kern,
1995; Peacock, 1999), belief change (e.g. Peacock, 2001; Basaran & Cabaroglu, 2014), the relationship between foreign
language anxiety and learners’ beliefs (e.g. Hou, 2013), gender and learners’ beliefs (e.g. Siebert, 2003; Bernatt &
Lloyd, 2007; Daif-Allah, 2012; Nahavandi, 2014), language proficiency and learner beliefs (e.g. Samimy & Lee, 1997;
Abedini et al., 2011; Bagherzadeh, 2012), success and learners’ beliefs (e.g. Brown, 1990; Schulz, 1996; Sakui &
Gaies, 1999; Dörnyei, 2005), and learners’ motivation and learners’ beliefs (e.g. Cohen and Dörnyei, 2002). However,
there is a great paucity of research studies concerning the impacts of second foreign language knowledge and foreign
country experience on preparatory program EFL learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning. Upon realizing this
deficiency, we decided to conduct this research study to investigate preparatory program EFL learners’ beliefs about
language learning in relation to gender, second foreign language knowledge and foreign country experience.
2. Methodology
2.1 Participants
The participants in this study were 149 preparatory program EFL students from the Foreign Languages School of a state
university located in the west part of Turkey. The age of students ranged from 18 to 23, with a mean of 20. Eighty-three
students were male and sixty-six students were female. Table 1 presents the distribution of respondents according to
age, gender, second foreign language knowledge and foreign country experience. Thirty-five students had second
foreign language knowledge, whereas one hundred and fourteen students did not have second foreign language
knowledge. Of these thirty-five students with second foreign language knowledge, twenty-five of them knew German as
a second foreign language. Six of them knew Arabic as a second foreign language. Two of them knew Spanish as a
second foreign language. One of them knew French as a second foreign language. One of them knew Russian as a
second foreign language. Nine students had foreign country experience, whereas one hundred and forty students did not
have foreign country experience. Of these nine students with foreign country experience, two of them visited Germany
as a foreign country. Two of them visited Greece as a foreign country. One of them visited the Netherlands as a foreign
country. One of them visited Hungary as a foreign country. One of them visited England as a foreign country. One of
them visited Saudi Arabia as a foreign country. One of them visited Italy as a foreign country. One of them visited
Switzerland as a foreign country. One of them visited Russia as a foreign country.
Table 1. Distribution of respondents according to age, gender, second foreign language knowledge and foreign country experience
Frequency Percentage (%)
Age 18-20 139 93.3
21-23 10 6.7
Gender Male 83 55.7

Female 66 44.3
Second foreign language knowledge Yes 35 23.5

No 114 76.5
Foreign country experience Yes 9 6

No 140 94
Total 149 100
2.2 Research questions

This study addresses the following research questions:
1. What are preparatory program EFL learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning?
2. Is there a significant relationship between gender and language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning?
3. Is there a significant relationship between second foreign language knowledge and language learners’ beliefs about
foreign language learning?
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 111
4. Is there a significant relationship between foreign country experience and language learners’ beliefs about foreign
language learning?
2.3. Instruments for data collection
The data for this study were collected through the questionnaire “Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory” (BALLI)
developed by Horwitz (1987). The first part contained a series of demographic questions about students’ age, gender,
second foreign language knowledge and foreign country experience. The second part contained thirty-four items based
on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1=strongly disagree to 5= strongly agree) to reveal students’ beliefs with respect to
foreign language aptitude, the difficulty of language learning, the nature of language learning, learning and
communication strategies and motivation and expectations. To check the reliability, the instrument was analyzed
through the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient α = 0.77, which showed a high level of reliability.
2.4 Data collection procedures
The instrument required about 10 minutes to complete and it was administered to the students in their regular English
class. Prior to students’ filling out the questionnaire, they were told that their responses to the questionnaire would
remain confidential. Morever, they were asked to respond to the items in the questionnaire as clearly as possible.
2.5 Data collection and analysis
Data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS. 16). The demographic variables for this
study were discrete data (nominal and ordinal); therefore, descriptive statistics were utilized to run for frequencies,
percentages, mean and standard deviation (Heiman, 2001; Sekaran, 2003; Beins, 2004). Parametric analysis such as
independent samples t-test was administered to explore any statistically significant differences (a) between gender and
language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning, (b) between second foreign language knowledge and
language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning, (c) between foreign country experience and language
learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning.
3. Results
3.1 Preparatory program EFL learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning
3.1.1 Foreign language aptitude
Table 2. Means, standard deviations and percentages of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on their foreign language aptitude
(n= 149)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No Foreign language aptitude SD D N A SA M SD
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. It is easier for children than adults to learn a foreign language. 5(3.4%) 3(2%) 11(7.4%) 48(32.2%) 82(55%) 4.34 0.95
2. Some people have a special ability to learn foreign languages. 15(10.1%) 32(21.5%) 31(20.8%) 44(29.5%) 27(18.1%) 3.24 1.26
4. English is a very easy language. 2(1.3%) 35(23.5%) 85(57%) 24(16.1%) 3(2%) 2.94 0.73
6. People from my country are good at learning foreign languages. 14(9.4%) 42(28.2%) 79(53%) 12(8.1%) 2(1.3%) 2.64 0.82
10. It is easier for someone who already speaks a foreign language 9(6%) 22(14.8%) 38(25.5) 53(35.6) 27(18.1) 3.45 1.13
to learn another one.
11. People who are good at mathematics or science are not good 53(35.6%) 50(33.6%) 29(19.5%) 7(4.7%) 10(6.7%) 2.13 1.15
at learning foreign languages.
16. I have a special ability for learning foreign languages. 23(15.4%) 53(35.6%) 51(34.2%) 14(9.4%) 8(5.4%) 2.54 1.04
19. Women are better than men at learning foreign languages. 46(%30.9) 46(30.9%) 40(26.8%) 8(5.4%) 9(6%) 2.25 1.13
30. People who speak more than one language are very intelligent. 23(15.4%) 38(25.5%) 43(28.9%) 29(19.5%) 16(10.7%) 2.85 1.22
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall foreign language aptitude 2.93 1.05
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Participants were asked to respond to 9 items to reveal their foreign language aptitude. The 5-point scale of responses
ranged from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). Table 2 displays the results of descriptive statistics (means,
standard deviations and percentages) of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on the subscale of Foreign Language
Aptitude. As seen in table 2, although preparatory program EFL learners agreed (a) that it was easier for children than
adults to learn a foreign language (item 1, 48 students agreed and 82 students strongly agreed, M=4.34; SD=0.95), (b)
that it was easier for someone who already speaks a foreign language to learn another one (item 10, 53 students agreed
and 27 students strongly agreed, M=3.45; SD=1.13), they disagreed (a) that people who were good at mathematics or
science were not good at learning foreign languages (item 11, 53 students strongly disagreed and 50 students disagreed,
M=2.13; SD=1.15), (b) that they had a special ability for learning foreign languages (item 16, 23 students strongly
disagreed and 53 students disagreed, M=2.54; SD=1.04) and (c) that women were better than men at learning foreign
languages (item 19, 46 students strongly disagreed and 46 students disagreed, M=2.25; SD=1.13).
Lastly, preparatory program EFL learners were either undecided or they expressed their disagreement with respect to (a)
some people’s having a special ability to learn foreign languages (item 2, 15 students strongly disagreed, 32 students
disagreed, 31 students were undecided, M=3.24; SD=1.26), (b) English is a very difficult language (item 4, 2 students
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 112
strongly disagreed, 35 students disagreed, 85 students were undecided), (c) people from my country being good at
learning foreign languages (item 6, 14 students strongly disagreed, 42 students disagreed, 79 students were undecided),
(d) people speaking more than one language being very intelligent (item 30, 23 students strongly disagreed, 38 students
disagreed, 43 students were undecided). Overall, preparatory program EFL learners generally expressed negative beliefs
with respect to the subcategory of foreign language aptitude by scoring lower than 4 on most of the items on the five
point scale. The mean score of the foreign language aptitude subscale was 2.93, with a standard deviation of 1.05
indicating that the majority of the respondents had fair foreign language aptitude as presented in Table 2.
3.1.2. Difficulty of language learning
Table 3. Means, standard deviations and percentages of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on difficulty of language learning
(n= 149)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
No Difficulty of language learning SD D N A SA M SD
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Some languages are easier to learn than others. 1.7(0.7%) 15(10.1%) 47(31.5%) 44(29.5%) 42(28.2%) 3.75 1.00
5. I believe that I will learn to speak English very well. 2(1.3%) 3(2%) 23(15.4%) 63(42.3%) 58(38.9%) 4.15 0.85
15. One cannot learn English by studying one hour a day. 37(24.8%) 84(56.4%) 13(8.7%) - 15(10.1%) 2.14 1.11
25. It is easier to speak than to understand a foreign language. 19(12.8%) 35(23.5%) 61(40.9%) 25(16.8%) 9(6%) 2.80 1.06
33. Everyone can learn to speak a foreign language. 4(2.7%) 8(5.4%) 32(21.5%) 60(40.3) 45(30.2%) 3.90 0.98
34. It is easier to read and write English than to speak and 6(4%) 28(18.8%) 54(36.2%) 46(30.9%) 15(10.1%) 3.24 1.00
understand it.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall language learning difficulty 3.33 1.00
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Participants were asked to respond to 7 items to reveal difficulty of language learning. Table 3 displays the results of
descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations and percentages) of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on the
subscale of Difficulty of Language Learning. As seen in table 3, although preparatory program EFL learners agreed (a)
that some languages were easier to learn than others (item 3, 44 students agreed and 42 students strongly agreed,
M=3.75; SD=1.00), (b) that they would learn to speak English very well (item 5, 63 students agreed and 58 students
strongly agreed, M=4.15; SD=0.85) and (c) that everyone could learn to speak a foreign language (item 33, 60 students
agreed and 45 students strongly agreed, M=3.90; SD=0.98), they disagreed (a) that one cannot learn English by
studying one hour a day. (item 15, 37 students strongly disagreed and 84 students disagreed, M=2.14; SD=1.11), (b)
that it was easier to speak than to understand a foreign language (item 25, 19 students strongly disagreed and 35
students disagreed, M=2.80; SD=1.06). Lastly, preparatory program EFL learners were either undecided or they
expressed their disagreement with respect to reading and writing English being easier than speaking and understanding
(item 34, 6 students strongly disagreed, 28 students disagreed, 58 students were undecided, M= 3.24; SD=1.00)
Overall, preparatory program EFL learners generally indicated negative beliefs with respect to the subcategory of
difficulty of language learning by scoring lower than 4 on most of the items on the five point scale. The mean score of
the difficulty of language learning subscale was 3.33, with a standard deviation of 1.00 indicating that the majority of
the respondents had moderate level of language learning difficulty as exhibited in Table 3.
3.1.3. Nature of language planning
Table 4. Means, standard deviations and percentages of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on nature of language planning (n= 149)
No Nature of language planning SD D N A SA M SD

________________________________________________________________________________________________
8.It is necessary to know about English-speaking cultures 14(9.4%) 39(26.2%) 39(26.2%) 41(27.5%) 16(10.7%) 3.04 1.16
in order to speak English.
12. It is best to learn English in an English speaking country. 3(2%) 4(2.7%) 5(3.4%) 30(20.1%) 107(71.8%) 4.57 0.84
17. The most important part of learning a foreign language is 6(4%) 8(5.4%) 26(17.4%) 62(41.6%) 47(31.5%) 3.91 1.03
learning the vocabulary.
23. The most important part of learning a foreign language is 15(10.1%) 28(18.8%) 46(30.9%) 49(32.9%) 11(7.4%) 3.09 1.10
Learning the grammar.
27. Learning a foreign language is different from learning other 5(3.4%) 16(10.7%) 19(12.8%) 56 (37.6%) 53 (35.6%) 3.91 1.10
academic subjects.
28. The most important part of learning English is learning how 6(4%) 20(13.4%) 38(25.5%) 56(37.6%) 29(19.5%) 3.55 1.07
to translate from my native language.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall nature of language planning 3.68 1.05
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 113
Participants were asked to respond to 6 items to reveal nature of language planning. Table 4 displays the results of
subscale of Nature of Language Planning. As seen in table 4, although preparatory program EFL learners agreed (a) that
it was best to learn English in an English speaking country. (item 12, 30 students agreed and 107 students strongly
agreed, M=4.57; SD=0.84), (b) that the most important part of learning a foreign language was learning the vocabulary
(item 17, 62 students agreed and 47 students strongly agreed, M=3.91; SD=1.03), (c) that learning a foreign language
was different from learning other academic subjects (item 27, 56 students agreed and 53 students strongly agreed,
M=3.91; SD=1.10) and (d) that the most important part of learning English was learning how to translate from their
native language (item 28, 56 students agreed and 29 students strongly agreed, M=3.55; SD=1.07), they were either
undecided or they expressed their disagreement with respect to (a) the necessity of knowing about English-speaking
cultures in order to speak English (item 8, 14 students strongly disagreed, 39 students disagreed, 39 students were
undecided) and (b) the most important part of learning a foreign language being learning the grammar (item 23, 15
students strongly disagreed, 28 students disagreed, 46 students were undecided, M=3.09; SD=1.10). As a consequence,
preparatory program EFL learners generally expressed their positive beliefs with respect to the subcategory of nature of
language planning by scoring nearly 4 or higher than 4 on three of the items on the five point scale. The mean score of
the nature of language planning subscale was 3.68, with a standard deviation of 1.05 indicating that the majority of the
respondents had high level of nature of language planning as shown in Table 4.
3.1.4 Learning and communication strategies
Table 5. Means, standard deviations and percentages of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on learning and communication strategies (n= 149)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No Learning and communication strategies SD D N A SA M SD
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. It is important to speak English with an excellent pronunciation. 3(2%) 9(6%) 23(15.4%) 66(44.3%) 48(32.2%) 3.99 0.95
9. You shouldn’t speak anything in English until you can say it correctly. 60(40.3%) 53(35.6%) 18(12.1%) 11(7.4%) 7(4.7%) 2.00 1.12
13. I enjoy practicing English with the native speakers of English I meet. 3(2%) 7(4.7%) 14(9.4%) 63(42.3%) 62(41.6%) 4.17 0.93
14. It’s OK to guess if you don’t know a word in English. 17(11.4%) 23(15.4%) 42(28.2%) 50(33.6%) 17(11.4%) 3.18 1.17
18. It is important to repeat and practice a lot. 5(3.4%) 1.7(0.7%) 6(4%) 35(23.5%) 102(68.5%) 4.53 0.88
21. I feel timid speaking English with other people. 31(20.8%) 52(34.9%) 33(22.1%) 15(10.1%) 18(12.1%) 2.58 1.26
22. If beginning students are permitted to make errors in English, it will be 33(22.1%) 39(26.2%) 25(16.8%) 24(16.1%) 28(18.8%) 2.83 1.43
difficult for them to speak correctly later on.
26. It is important to practice with cassettes or tapes. 4(2.7%) 8(5.4%) 18(12.1%) 78(52.3%) 41(27.5%) 3.97 0.93
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall learning and communication strategies 3.41 1.08
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Participants were asked to respond to 8 items to unearth learning and communication strategies. Table 5 displays the
results of descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations and percentages) of preparatory program EFL learners’
scores on the subscale of Learning and Communication Strategies. As seen in table 5, although preparatory program
EFL learners agreed (a) that it was important to speak English with an excellent pronunciation (item 7, 66 students
agreed and 48 students strongly agreed, M=3.99; SD=0.95), (b) that they enjoyed practicing English with the native
speakers of English they met (item 13, 63 students agreed and 62 students strongly agreed, M=4.17; SD=0.93), (c) that
it was important to repeat and practice a lot (item 18, 35 students agreed and 102 students strongly agreed, M=4.53;
SD=0.88) and (d) that it was important to practice with cassettes or tapes (item 26, 78 students agreed and 41 students
strongly agreed, M=3.97; SD=0.93), they disagreed that one should not speak anything in English until s/he can say it
correctly (item 9, 60 students strongly disagreed and 53 students disagreed, M=2.00; SD=1.12). Additionally, the results
of the questionnaire showed that preparatory program EFL learners were either undecided or they expressed their
disagreement with respect to (a) guessing if not knowing a word in English (item 14, 17 students strongly disagreed, 23
students disagreed, 42 students were undecided), (b) difficulty of beginning students to speak correctly when being
permitted to make errors in English (item 22, 33 students strongly disagreed, 39 students disagreed, 25 students were
undecided, M=2.83; SD=1.43) and (c) feeling timid when speaking English with other people (item 21, 31 students
strongly disagreed, 52 students disagreed, 33 students were undecided).
As a consequence, preparatory program EFL learners generally expressed their positive beliefs with respect to the
subcategory of learning and communication strategies by scoring nearly 4 or higher than 4 on four of the items on the
five point scale. The mean score of the nature of language planning subscale was 3.41, with a standard deviation of 1.08
indicating that the majority of the respondents had high level of learning and communication strategies as shown in
Table 5.
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 114
3.1.5 Motivation and expectations
Table 6. Means, standard deviations and percentages of preparatory program EFL learners’ scores on motivation and expectations (n= 149)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No Motivation and expectations SD D N A SA M SD
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20. People in my country feel that it is important to speak English. 10(6.7%) 19(12.8%) 36(24.2%) 52(34.9%) 32(21.5%) 3.52 1.16
24. I would like to learn English so that I can get to know 2(1.3%) 6(4%) 18(12.1%) 60(40.3%) 63(42.3%) 4.18 0.89
native speakers of English better.
29. If I learn English very well, I will have better opportunities 4(2.7%) --- 2(1.3%) 13(8.7%) 130(87.2%) 4.78 0.72
for a good job.
31. I want to learn to speak English well. 4(2.7%) 1.7(0.7%) 1.7(0.7%) 10(6.7%) 133(89.3%) 4.79 0.74
32. I would like to have native-English speaking friends. 3(2%) 2(1.3%) 6(4%) 45(30.2%) 93(62.4%) 4.50 0.81
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall motivation and expectations 4.35 0.86
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Participants were asked to respond to 5 items to reveal motivation and expectations. Table 6 exhibits the results of
subscale of Motivation and Expectations. As seen in table 6, preparatory program EFL learners agreed (a) that people in
their country felt that it was important to speak English (item 20, 52 students agreed and 32 students strongly agreed,
M=3.52; SD=1.16), (b) that they would like to learn English so that they could get to know native speakers of English
better (item 24, 60 students agreed and 63 students strongly agreed, M=4.18; SD=0.89), (c) that they would have better
opportunities for a good job if they learned English well (item 29, 13 students agreed and 130 students strongly agreed,
M=4.78; SD=0.72), (d) that they wanted to learn to speak English well (item 31, 10 students agreed and 133 students
strongly agreed, M=4.79; SD=0.74) and ( e) that they would like to have native-English speaking friends (item 32, 45
students agreed, 93 students strongly agreed). Hence, it can be stated that preparatory program EFL learners generally
expressed their positive beliefs with respect to the subcategory of motivation and expectations by scoring higher than 4
on most of the items on the five point scale. The mean score of the motivation and expectations subscale was 4.35, with
a standard deviation of 0.86 denoting that the majority of the respondents had high level of motivation and expectations
as exhibited in Table 6.
3.2 Is there a significant relationship between gender and language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning?
Table 7. Mean differences between males and females with respect to beliefs about foreign language learning
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Category Items Gender n Mean S.D Mean difference df t p
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foreign language 2 Male 83 3.48 1.22 -.542 147 -2.662 .009*
aptitude Female 66 2.94 1.25 -.542
4 Male 83 3.06 0.72 -.272 147 -2.301 .023*
Female 66 2.79 0.71 -.272
19 Male 83 1.95 1.03 .669 147 3.694 .000*
Female 66 2.62 1.15 .669
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Difficulty of language 5 Male 83 4.29 0.74 -.304 147 -2.193 .035*
learning Female 66 3.98 0.95 -.304
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Learning and com. 21 Male 83 2.21 1.10 .840 147 4.261 .000*
strategies Female 66 3.05 1.31 .840
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nature of language 23 Male 83 2.84 1.09 .550 147 3.116 .002*
learning Female 66 3.39 1.05 .550
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* p< 0.05
To reveal whether there were significant differences between males (n=83) and females (n=66) in relation to their
beliefs about foreign language learning, an independent samples t test was conducted to compare the means of these two
groups. Based on the results of the t-test, it was unearthed that, relevant to item 2 (foreign language aptitude), there
were significant differences between males (M=3.48, SD=1.22) and females (M=2.94, SD= 1.25); t(147)= -2.662, p <
.05. That is to state that male students believe some people have a special ability to learn foreign languages more than
female students do. Similarly, related to item 4 (foreign language aptitude), it was found that there were significant
differences between males (M=3.06, SD=0.72) and females (M=2.79, SD= 0.71); t(147)= -2.301, p < .05. Male students
found much easier for someone who already speaks a foreign language to learn another one than female students did.
With respect to item 19 (foreign language aptitude), it was seen that there were significant differences between males
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 115
(M=1.95, SD=1.03) and females (M=2.62, SD= 1.15); t(147)= 3.694, p < .05. This result indicated that male students
disagreed more than female students that women were better than men at learning foreign languages.
Related to item 5 (difficulty of language learning), it was unearthed that there were significant differences between
males (M=4.29, SD=0.74) and females (M=3.98, SD= 0.95); t(147)= -2.193, p < .05. This result indicated that male
students believed more than female students that they would learn to speak English well. With respect to item 21
(learning and communication strategies), it was unearthed that there were significant differences between males
(M=2.21, SD=1.10) and females (M=3.05, SD= 1.31); t(147)= 4.261, p < .05. This result indicated that male students
believed more than female students that they would learn to speak English well. Related to item 23 (nature of language
learning), it was seen that there were significant differences between males (M=2.84, SD=1.09) and females (M=3.39,
SD=1.05); t(147)= 3.116, p < .05. This result indicated that female students believed more than male students that the
most important part of learning a foreign language was learning the grammar. Overall, the findings of the study
unearthed that male learners held more positive beliefs about language learning than female learners as regard foreign
language aptitude, difficulty of language learning, learning and communication strategies.
3.3 Is there a significant relationship between second foreign language knowledge and language learners’ beliefs about
foreign language learning?
Table 8. Mean differences between second foreign language knowledge and language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Category Items Second Foreign n Mean S.D Mean Difference df t p
Languge Knowledge
(SFLK)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Foreign language 2 Learners with SFLK 35 3.63 1.19 .505 147 2.099 .034*
aptitude Learners without SFLK 1143.12 1.26 .505
10 Learners with SFLK 35 3.89 0.87 .569 147 2.664 .003*

Learners without SFLK 114 3.32 1.17 .569
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Learning and com. 13 Learners with SFLK 35 4.54 0.56 .490 147 2.803 .000*
strategies Learners without SFLK 114 4.05 0.99 .490
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nature of language 12 Learners with SFLK 35 4.83 0.38 .337 147 2.081 .002*
learning Learners without SFLK 114 4.49 0.93 .337
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* p< 0.05
To reveal whether there were significant differences between language learners with second foreign language
knowledge (n=35) and those without second foreign language knowledge (n=114) in relation to their beliefs about
foreign language learning, an independent samples t test was conducted to compare the means of these two groups.
Based on the results of the t-test, it was unearthed that, relevant to item 2 (foreign language aptitude), there were
significant differences between language learners with second foreign language knowledge (M=3.63, SD=1.19) and
those without second foreign language knowledge (M=3.12, SD= 1.26); t(147)= 2.099, p < .05. That is to state that
language learners with second foreign language knowledge believe some people have a special ability to learn foreign
languages more than language learners not knowing a second foreign language do.
Similarly, related to item 10 (foreign language aptitude), it was found that there were significant differences between
language learners with second foreign language knowledge (M=3.89, SD=0.87) and those without second foreign
language knowledge (M=3.32, SD= 1.17); t(147)= 2.664, p < .05. Language learners with second foreign language
knowledge found much easier for someone who already speaks a foreign language to learn another one than language
learners without second foreign language knowledge did.
With respect to item 13 (learning and communication strategies), it was revealed that there were significant differences
between language learners with second foreign language knowledge (M=4.54, SD=0.56) and those without second
foreign language knowledge (M=4.05, SD= 0.99); t(147)= 2.803, p < .05. This outcome showed that language learners
with second foreign language knowledge enjoyed practicing English with the native speakers of English they met more
than language learners without second foreign language knowledge did.
Related to item 12 (nature of language learning), it was unearthed that there were significant differences between
language learners with second foreign language knowledge (M=4.83, SD=0.38) and those without second foreign
language knowledge (M=4.49, SD= 0.93); t(147)= 2.081, p < .05. This result indicated that language learners with
second foreign language knowledge believed more than language learners without second foreign language the
practicality of learning English in an English speaking country.
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 116
3.4 Is there a significant relationship between foreign country experience and language learners’ beliefs about foreign
language learning?
Table 9. Mean differences between language learners with foreign country experience and language learners without foreign country experience in
relation to their beliefs about foreign language learning
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Category Items Foreign Country n Mean S.D Mean Difference df t p
Experience (FCE)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Difficulty of language 15 Learners with FCE 9 3.78 0.67 .570 147 1.662 .036*
learning Learners without FCE 140 3.21 1.01 .570
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Learning and com. 7 Learners with FCE 9 4.44 0.53 .487 147 1.496 .027*
strategies Learners without FCE 140 3.96 0.97 .487
21 Learners with FCE 9 2.00 0.71 -.614 147 -1.41 .036*

Learners without FCE 140 2.61 1.28 -.614
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Nature of language 12 Learners with FCE 9 4.89 0.33 .338 147 1.16 .021*
learning Learners without FCE 140 4.55 0.87 .338
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* p< 0.05
To reveal whether there were significant differences between language learners with foreign country experience (n=9)
and those without foreign country experience (n=140) in relation to their beliefs about foreign language learning, an
independent samples t test was conducted to compare the means of these two groups. Based on the results of the t-test, it
was unearthed that, relevant to item 15 (difficulty of language learning), there were significant differences between
language learners with foreign country experience (M=3.78, SD=0.67) and those without foreign country experience
(M=3.21, SD= 1.01); t(147)= 1.662, p < .05. This result indicates that language learners with foreign country experience
believe more than language learners without foreign country experience that one cannot learn English by studying one
hour a day.
Related to item 7 (learning and communication strategies), it was found that there were significant differences between
(M=3.96, SD= 0.97); t(147)= 1.496, p < .05. This result suggests that speaking English with an excellent pronunciation
was more important for language learners with foreign country experience than it was for language learners without
foreign country experience. Similarly, with respect to item 21 (learning and communication strategies), there were
significant differences between language learners with foreign country experience (M=2.00, SD=0.71) and those
without foreign country experience (M=2.61, SD= 1.28); t(147)= -1.41, p < .05. This result indicates that language
learners with foreign country experience feel less timid than language learners without foreign country experience when
speaking English with other people.
Relevant to item 12 (nature of language learning), it was revealed that there were significant differences between
(M=4.55, SD= 0.87); t(147)= 1.16, p < .05. This result indicated that language learners with foreign country experience
believed more than language learners without foreign country experience the practicality of learning English in an
English speaking country.
4. Discussion and conclusion
The present study investigated (a) preparatory program EFL learners’ beliefs about learning English as a foreign
language by utilizing Horwitz’s (1987) BALLI, (b) the relationship between gender and language learners’ beliefs about
foreign language learning, (c) the relationship between second foreign language knowledge and language learners’
beliefs about foreign language learning and (d) the relationship between foreign country experience and language
learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning.
Relevant to the five components of beliefs about language learning, the results of the present study indicate that
language learners have the strongest belief in motivation and expectations (M=4.35), followed by nature of language
learning (M=3.68), learning and communication strategies (M=3.41), difficulty of language learning (M=3.33), foreign
language aptitude (M=2.93). These results are in line with those of Sioson (2011) and Jafari & Shokrpour (2012) in
which students have the strongest belief in motivation and expectations despite having the weakest belief in foreign
language aptitude. In the literature, different research studies revealed different findings related to the five components
of beliefs about language learning. To illustrate, Ariogul, Unal & Onursal (2009) unearthed that students had the
strongest belief in motivation and expectations, followed by learning and communication strategies, the nature of
language learning, foreign language aptitude and the difficulty of language learning. In another research study,
Nahavandi (2014) found that students had the strongest belief in nature of language learning, followed by foreign
language aptitude, difficulty of language learning, learning and communication strategies and motivation and
expectations.
IJALEL 5(5):109-118, 2016 117
With respect to the relationship between gender and language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning, the
findings of the present study unearthed that male students held more positive beliefs about language learning than
female students as regard foreign language aptitude, difficulty of language learning, learning and communication
strategies. These results contradict with the results of Tercanlıoglu (2005) and Mesri (2012) in which there was no
significant relationship between language learners’ beliefs and gender. In the literature, various research studies
revealed different findings related to the relationship between gender and language learners’ beliefs about foreign
language learning. For instance, the results of the study conducted by Daif-Allah (2012) indicated that there were
statistically significant differences between males and females with respect to the areas of English language aptitude,
learning and communication, and motivation and expectations. However, there were similar beliefs between males and
females related to the difficulty and the nature of language learning. In the research study done by Bernatt & Lloyd
(2007), males and females held similar beliefs with respect to foreign language aptitude, the perceived difficulty when
learning a language, the nature of language learning, strategies in learning and communication, and their motivations
and expectations. However, related to multilinguals’ being very intelligent, males and females had different beliefs,
with more females supporting this statement. In another research study, Siebert (2003) found that females generally
held stronger beliefs about language learning than males did.
Related to the relationship between second foreign language knowledge and language learners’ beliefs about foreign
language learning, this study indicated that language learners with second foreign language knowledge held more
positive beliefs about language learning than those without second foreign language knowledge as regards foreign
language aptitude, learning and communication strategies and nature of language learning. These results contribute to
the related field since previous studies did not unearth the relationship between second foreign language knowledge and
language learners’ beliefs about foreign language learning.
Regarding the relationship between foreign country experience and language learners’ beliefs about foreign language
learning, this study revealed that language learners with foreign country experience held more positive beliefs about
language learning than those without foreign country experience with respect to difficulty of language learning, learning
and communication strategies and nature of language learning. These results contribute to the related field since
previous studies did not unearth the relationship between second foreign language knowledge and language learners’
beliefs about foreign language learning.
Some pedagogical implications can be drawn from the current study. First, the identification of preparatory program
EFL learners’ beliefs may be very beneficial for preparatory program EFL teachers so that they can design their lessons
in parallel to language learners' beliefs. Second, foreign language teachers may consider language learners' beliefs about
foreign language learning when developing their teaching programs because any program taught in line with language
learners’ beliefs can be motivating for learners.
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An Agree-based Approach to Structural Case Assignment in

Najrani Arabic
Abdul-Hafeed Ali Fakih (Corresponding author)
Department of English, University of Ibb, Yemen
&
English Department, University of Najran, Saudi Arabia
Hadeel Ali Al-Sharif

Department of English, University of Najran, Saudi Arabia

Abstract
This study aims to examine structural (nominative and accusative) Case assignment in Najrani Arabic (henceforth, NA)
and in turn provide a satisfactorily unified account on how structural Case is assigned in Najrani Arabic within
Chomsky's (2001, 2005) Agree theory. It attempts to present a straightforward answer to the following questions: (i)
how is structural (nominative and accusative) Case assigned in NA, given the recent developments and challenges in
Chomsky’s (2001, 2005) Agree theory?, and (ii) how are Case and agreement features valued in NA syntax? A closer
examination of structural Case in NA demonstrates that, unlike Standard Arabic, NA has an abstract Case system which
is not morphologically realized, a similar phenomenon to that of English. Furthermore, the study examines structural
Case assignment in VSO and SVO structures and points out that structural Case in NA is assigned via an Agree relation
between a probe and a goal within a c-command domain. That is, in VSO structures in NA, nominative Case is assigned
by the C-T complex via an Agree relation established between T and the subject in [Spec-TP] while accusative Case is a
reflex of an Agree relation between the light v and the object DP. Besides, preverbal DPs in SVO structures undergoes
movement from [Spec-vP] to [Spec-topP] and leaves a resumptive pro(nominal in [Spec-vp] which appears as either an
overt number marker cliticized onto the verb or as a covert pro(nominal). However, in SVO structures introduced by the
complementiser inn, there are two DPs; a post-verbal DP and a preverbal one. The post-verbal DP is assigned
nominative Case by the C-T complex while the preverbal DP is assigned accusative lexical Case in the presence of the
over Case assigner inn or default nominative Case in the absence of inn.
Keywords: Structural Case, Agree relation, probe, goal, phase, abstract Case, C-T complex
1. Introduction
The study of structural Case assignment has recently received much attention cross-linguistically, where various
analyses have been presented and several proposals have been argued for in different languages in the world with the
aim of providing a satisfactory account on the subject under discussion (Al-Khalil (786); Sibawayh (796); and Ibn
Hisham (1360) for Standard Arabic), Pollock, (1989) for French and English; Eisenbeiss et al. (2006) for German,
Fillmore (1968); Bobaljik (1994); Schütze (2001); and Chomsky (1981, 1991, 1995, 2001, 2005) for English and other
languages. Besides, more recent analyses on Case assignment in Standard Arabic have also been seen in Mohammed
(1990, 2000); Plunkett (1993); Fassi Fehri (1993, 2005); Ouhallah (1994); Benmamoun (2000); Soltan (2007);
Musabhien (2008); Al-Balushi (2010); and Fakih (2005, 2014, 2015, 2016); most of these accounts were based on
minimalism.
The present paper focuses on Najrani Arabic, which is a variety of Standard Arabic spoken by the people of the Najran
region, which is located in the south western part of Saudi Arabia. In this study, we explore structural Case assignment
in Najrani Arabic (NA) whose Case system has fascinated us sufficiently to investigate and examine it with a view to
providing a unified treatment of the subject in question based on Chomsky's (2001, 2005) Agree theory which
constitutes the phase model and feature inheritance approach. The topic of structural (nominative and accusative) Case
assignment in NA is selected for study for the following reasons: (i) structural Case system of Najrani Arabic has never
been studied morpho-syntactically before, (ii) there is a need to provide a satisfactorily unified account of structural
Case assignment in NA in a modern framework, given the recent challenges in linguistic theory posed by minimalism,
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 120
more particularly Agree theory. The objective is to examine the interaction between the NA data and Chomsky’s (2005)
Agree theory with regards to structural Case assignment.
This study has, however, been organized into the following sections: section 2 reviews the views of the traditional Arab
grammarians on the notion of structural Case in SA. It also presents the historical development of Case starting from
Fillmore (1968), Chomsky (1970), and Chomsky and Lasnik (1977); it also shows how structural Case was
standardized in Chomsky’s GB theory (1981-1991), section 3 explores Chomsky’s (1993-1995) treatment of structural
Case in the early minimalist syntax, section 4 discusses the recent developments of Chomsky’s minimalist syntax
(Merge, Agree and Move) and introduces Case and feature matching as well as phase theory, section 5 presents the
proposed analysis in NA based on Chomsky’s (2005) Agree theory (Case morphology, structural Case assignment in
VSO & SVO, verbal copular sentences, structural Case assignment in SVO and Case assignment of the preverbal DP),
and section 6 summarizes the findings of the study.
2.1 Traditional Arab grammarians and structural Case marking: the governor hypothesis
The governor hypothesis was established to provide a logical explanation of how syntactic structures are constructed in
Standard Arabic. The early studies of the Arab grammarians focused on the notion of government/governor and how it
was used in the syntax to assign Case to different constituents of a sentence. According to As-Saied (2002), the
governor hypothesis was created by Al-Hadrami in (735), modified by Al-Khalil in (786), and explained systematically
by the greatest Arab grammarian Sibawayh (796). It was considered to be one of the most important theories in
traditional Arabic grammar. In Standard Arabic grammar, governors were divided into verbal and non-verbal; they were
further sub-divided into strong and weak as well as standard and subsidiary governors. Strong governors were classified
according to their morpho-syntactic effect on other constituents of a structure. Standard Arabic governors included
verbs and particles whereas subsidiary ones included nouns (As-Saied, 2002).
Moreover, Al-Rajehi (1998) pointed out the importance of the governor hypothesis to Case marking and indicated that
Case pillars (to use his terminology) are: a governor (i.e., an assigner which assigns Case to an NP), an assignee (i.e., a
position which determines the meaning and function of the word), and a Case marker, which indicates the position of
the word. Al-Rajehi also mentioned that the governor hypothesis in Standard Arabic is related to sentence type and
word order alternations.
Structural Case in Standard Arabic is assigned under government by a governor to a constituent in a sentence. The
traditional Arab grammarians (like Al-Khalil, 786; Sibawayh, 796; and Ibn Hisham, 1360, among others) emphasize
that there are three types of structural Case in Standard Arabic: nominative, accusative and genitive. Al-Khalil (786)
provides a detailed account of structural Case assignment in Standard Arabic. Al-Khalil (786) states that "Accusatives
in Standard Arabic are fifty one types including objects …, while Nominatives are twenty two types among which are
subject, topic and comment, (i.e., subject and predicate), the subject of kaana and its sisters, and the predicate of ?inna
and its sisters. Furthermore, genitives are nine types among which are prepositions and the construct state" (Al-Khalil,
786: 118).
Moreover, Arab grammarians and linguists distinguished between a nominal sentence and a verbal one. A nominal
sentence is viewed as one that does not begin with a verb. According to Al-Rahawi (2007), a nominal sentence can
either be a verbless sentence or one with SVO word order. A verbless sentence is viewed by Al-Horais (2006) as "a
sentence with the absence of an overt verbal copula in the present tense which is traditionally called, by the Arab
grammarians, al-Jumlah al-ismiyah 'the Nominal Sentence' " (p. 102).
According to Al-Rajehi (1998), any nominal sentence stands on two essential parts, a topic and a predicate, and both
parts are always nominative. He also indicates that the topic of a nominal sentence is always an NP whereas the
predicate can be an NP or a combination of a verb and an NP which supports the view that SVO word order is a
nominal sentence, too.
On the other hand, Al-Rahawi (2007) provides a thorough account on the traditional Arab grammarians' views on the
governor hypothesis of the nominal sentence. He claims that Basry linguists including Sibawayh (796) hold the view
that the topic of the nominal sentence is assigned nominative Case by the inception which is an abstract, non-verbal
governor whereas the predicate is assigned nominative Case by the topic which is a verbal governor. Among the
linguists who share this opinion are Al-Faresi (987); Ibn-Jinni (1002); Al-Dinori (1146); Ibn-Malik (1274); and Ibn-
Hisham (1360). However, Al-Rahawi (2007) claims that some other Basry linguists, such as Al-Akhfash (830); Ibn Al-
Mubarrad (898); Ibn al-sarraj (928); and Al-Jarjani (1079), hold the view that the governor of the topic is the inception
and the governor of the predicate is both the inception and the subject. Hence, by the combination of the two governors,
the verbal and the non-verbal one, the predicate is assigned nominative Case. Moreover, Al-Rahawi (2007) presents the
views of the Kufan linguists and demonstrates that they are with the view that the topic governs the predicate and the
predicate governs the topic. Thus, each one governs the other and assigns nominative Case to it. This view is held by
Al-Kisa'ei (805); Al-Farra (822); and Abu Hayyan (1344).
To sum up, Al-Rahawi (2007) stresses that presenting the traditional Arab grammarians' views on the governor
hypothesis of the nominal sentence reflects the fact that there were debates between Basries and Kufans upon the
governor of both the subject and predicate of a nominal sentence. It also shows that there is agreement amongst Basries
concerning the fact that the inception is the governor of the subject. However, Al-Rahawi (2007) states that there is still
some disagreement on what governs the predicate.
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 121
Structural Case assignment in verbless sentences is also discussed by modern Arab linguists such as Fass Fehri (1993);
Benmamoun (2000); Fakih (2006); and Al-Horais (2006), among others. Let us quote Al-Horais’ example in (1) and his
tree-diagram in (2) for further illustration.
1. Muhammadun muʕallimun
muhammad-nom a teacher-nom
'Muhammad (is) a teacher.'
2.
For such government to work properly the 'Topic' must not be preceded by any particles such as kaana and its sisters or
?inna and its sisters. If it was preceded by such particles, the subject could have been governed by a verbal governor
(i.e., a stronger governor) and consequently could have been assigned different Case (Al-Rajehi, 1998). This can be
illustrated in (3).
3. ?inna muhammad-an muʕallim-un
comp Muhammad.acc teacher.nom
'Certainly, Muhammad is a teacher.'
In addition, structural Case assignment in SVO sentences can be demonstrated in (4).
4. ahmad-u kataba risaalat-an
Ahmad-nom wrote.3p.sg.m letter.acc.indef
'Ahmad wrote a letter.'
According to the traditional Arab grammarians, the NP 'Ahmad' in (4) is assigned nominative Case by 'the inception'
and the VP kataba risaalat-an constitutes the predicate of the sentence.
On the other hand, a verbal sentence in Standard Arabic is seen as one that begins with a verb, which is the unmarked
VSO word order. According to Al-Rajehi (1998), the basic elements of a verbal sentence are the verb and its subject
which means that the verb may only require a subject NP to express its meaning. However, there are some verbs which
require a subject NP and seek an object, and sometime two objects; as in the case of transitive and ditransitive verbs,
respectively. In other words, Standard Arabic verbs are of two types; an intransitive verb 'alfiʕl allazim' which requires
one argument NP, particularly a subject NP, and a transitive verb 'alfiʕl almutaʕaddi' which demands two argument
NPs; i.e., the first argument NP is the subject and the second is an object NP. There are also ditransitive verbs which
require the obligatory presence of three argument NPs; the subject NP and two object NPs, (Al-Khalil, 786; Sibawayh,
796; Ibn Hisham, 1360; Wright, 1989; and Al-Rajehi, 1998, among others). This can be demonstrated in (5).
5. ðahaba zaidun
went.3p.sg.m Zaid.Nom
'Zaid went'
The verb ðahaba 'went' in (5) is intransitive which requires the obligatory presence of an argument NP, particularly the
subject NP, Zayd-un. However, when the verb is transitive it requires two argument NPs, the first argument NP is the
subject while the second is the object NP. This can be shown in (6).
6. daraba zaid-un ʕamran
hit.3p.sg.m Zaid.Nom Amr.acc
'Zaid hit Amr.'
Regarding the governor in the verbal sentence, it is the verb which acts as the verbal governor. According to As-Saied
(2002), in his discussion of the governor hypothesis, the traditional Arab grammarians stress that it is the verb which
assigns nominative Case to the subject NP and accusative Case to the object NP. Thus, the traditional Arab
grammarians explain the governing role of the verb in Standard Arabic and how it assigns nominative Case to the
subject NP and accusative Case to the object NP, as illustrated in (7) below.
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 122
2.2 The notion of Case in Standard Arabic terms

This sub-section presents an overview of the views of the traditional Arab grammarians regarding the historical
development of Case in Standard Arabic and examines the different proposals advocated by the Arab grammarians and
linguists in their syntactic analyses.
Awn (1952) stated that much attention was given to Case and its governing syntactic rules in Standard Arabic because
this kind of attention and practice was a common art in Standard Arabic traditions. Mustafa (1992) indicated that early
Arabs considered a person who spoke and misused a linguistic form, especially Case markers, to be inferior to their
Arabic culture. Mustafa (1992) also pointed out that the interest in mentioning and emphasizing the morpho-syntactic
rules of Standard Arabic, commonly used in the pre-Islamic poetry and in the holly Qur'an, was motivated by the idea to
reserve the Holy Qur'an from corruption, or what was called allahn. This encouraged a large number of the Arab
grammarians to establish complete, thorough morpho-syntactic studies on Standard Arabic. In such studies, great
attention was given to Case and Case marking as the basis of understanding properly the sentence construction in
Standard Arabic. For instance, Ibn Hisham (1360) views Case as an overt or covert effect of a governor on a certain
word. Al-Rajehi (1998) points out that Case is an inflectional ending suffixed to a word which determines its position
and function in a sentence as a result of being governed by a certain governor. Al-Tahhan (2006) states that it is a
verbal change which affects a word stem. Moreover, Al-Hujailaan (2000) demonstrates that the Arab grammarians have
had different views concerning the notion of Case. The first view sees Case as a verbal effect, that is, its existence in the
structure is confined to the presence of Case markers (Al-Hujailaan, 2000). That is, to some grammarians Case is
confined to overt morphological Case. In this connection, Yaqoot (1994) views Case as an inflectional morpheme
which denotes the functional meaning of a word in combination with other words. The second view treats Case as a
semantic effect denoting a semantic function of a word. The difference here is that Case is related to meaning rather
than simply a verbal effect (Al-Hujailaan, 2000). The third view is that Case-marking is not only the overt
morphological realization of Case but is also a system that combines words and Case markers by means of certain
morpho-syntactic relationships. Thus, overt Case markers are indicators of the presence of Case but not Case itself (Al-
Hujailaan, 2000). Moreover, Al-Tahhan (2006) argues that Case marking in Standard Arabic can be of two types: (i)
functional Case marking which is basically concerned with the function of a word within a sentence, and (ii) inflectional
Case marking which takes care of certain words whose endings change as a result of a certain position in a sentence.
2.3 Case theory and pre-minimalism
2.3.1 Case grammar
Lyons (1966) provided an account on Case in English and showed the difference between Nominative and Objective
Case in the initial stages of the development era of syntactic analyses. Fillmore (1968) presented his theory of Case
grammar which was proposed with the aim to reintroducing the interpretation of Case system "in the light of deep and
surface structures" (p. 42). In generative grammar, Case is considered to be "a phenomenon of language … (which) is
often visible in the form of case morphology, e.g., inflection and particles." (Otsuka, 2000: 80). Fillmore (1968: 35)
pointed out that the basic assumption of Case in generative grammar is that "it is not present in Deep Structure” at all,
but is merely the inflexional 'realization' of particular syntactic relationships" which can only be defined in terms of
surface structure relations. In general, generative grammarians viewed Case markers as "surface structure reflexes,
introduced by rules of various kinds of deep and surface syntactic relations" (ibid. 26). Furthermore, Fillmore (1971:
35) discussed the relations between the verb and its arguments in terms of semantic roles or "deep structure cases".
Fillmore stated that cases in English were traditionally of six types, "agentive, instrumental, dative, factitive, locative
and objective" (p. 46). He also suggested that 'deep structure cases' could be discovered and justified by mere syntactic
criteria.
2.3.2 Chomsky's treatment of structural Case assignment: the GB approach
The motive behind the establishment of Case theory is to provide a reasonable account for the distribution of NPs
within a construction. The first tentative view in the field was proposed by Chomsky (1970) when he proposed the X-
bar theory. Then, some attempts were assumed in Chomsky and Lasnik (1977) but the standardization of Case theory
began in Chomsky's (1981) Government and Binding Theory, improved in sub-sequent works in the rest of the 1980s
and 1990s, and perfected in minimalism. It may be observed that Chomsky's Lectures on Government and Binding
(1981) established the foundation of Case theory and showed clearly how structural Case could be assigned in a
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systematic manner. Chomsky's GB model was inspired by Vergnaud's (1977) comments on Chomsky and Lasnik
(1977). A number of the basic elements in Case theory proposed in Chomsky (1981) were influenced by Vergnaud's
(1977) suggestions some of which are the Case filter, the distinction between abstract and morphological Case and the
definition of government, and later on the checking theory. Chomsky and Lasnik (1977) proposed a filter to account for
the distribution of NPs in English in (8).
8. *[a NP to VP] unless a is adjacent to and in the domain of [-N]

Then Vergnaud (1977), commenting on their proposal, hypothesizes that (movement of) NP to VP follows from Case
factors. And since inflectional Case morphology in English is poor, he suggests replacing this filter with a more suitable
one to be a principle of UG. Thus, Vergnaud (1977) assumes that "NPs are assigned abstract Case, even when Case has
no overt morphological realization" (cited in Freiden, 2008). This observation led Chomsky (1981) to propose the Case
Filter Principle to rule out any NP without Case, illustrated as in (9).
9. Case Filter: Every phonetically realized NP must be assigned (abstract) Case.
Chomsky (1981) distinguishes morphological Case from abstract Case and structural Case from inherent Case in the
GB framework. Morphological Case represents Case differences by different Case inflections. However, languages with
a poor system of inflectional morphology will represent Case abstractly. In other words, morphological Case is overtly
realized on an NP while abstract Case is not. In this connection, Haegeman (1994: 155) states that "abstract Case is a
universal property, while the overt realization of abstract Case by means of morphological Case varies cross-
linguistically."
Chomsky (1981) introduces the term “structural Case” for abstract Case which is assigned under government, at S-
structure configurations, and by heads of certain syntactic categories. Chomsky proposes that the fundamental
properties of Case-assignment can be as illustrated in (10):
10. "i. NP is nominative if governed by AGR
ii. NP is objective if governed by V with the sub-categorization feature: -NP (i.e., transitive)
iii. NP is oblique if governed by P
iv. NP is genitive in [NP- X]
v. NP is inherently Case-marked as determined by the properties of its [-N] governor" (Chomsky, 1981:
170)
Chomsky (1981) refers to the Case assigned under (i-iv) as "structural Case" and the Case assigned under (v) as
"inherent Case" (p. 170), thus introducing the term 'structural Case' and distinguishing it from ' inherent Case.'
Furthermore, the literature of the GB approach reflects that there are two basic configurations for structural Case
marking; the Spec-head agreement relation and the head-complement (agreement) relation; or government. The former
assigns nominative Case to the subject NP whereas the latter assigns accusative Case to the complement NP of the head.
Structural Case is assigned under structural configurations from the assigner to the assignee whereas inherent Case is
defined in terms of thematic relations between the assigner and the assignee.
2.3.2.1 Nominative Case assignment within the GB approach
Subject-verb agreement and nominative Case assignment result from a Spec-head agreement between the finite I(NFL)
and the NP in [Spec-IP] position with the requirement that I(NFL) is [+Tense, +AGR] (Haegeman, 1994 and Soltan,
2007). This relation can be represented in (11).
11.
The syntactic representation in (11) works successfully with languages that require SVO word order but unfortunately
fails to account for the languages with VSO word order. Thus, a proposal was made to extend the notion of government,
hence to allow a governing role for I(NFL) to assign Nominative Case to [Spec-VP] in addition to its agreement role
(Sproat, 1985; Mohammad, 1990; and Raposo and Uriagereka, 1990). This proposal can be represented in (12).
12.
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 124
2.3.2.2 Accusative Case assignnment within the GB aaproach
Accusative Case, on the other hand, is assigned under government by [-N] categoies; V and P to the complement, as
shown in (13) below. There is a condition on this kind of government which states that the governed element should be
the closest one to the governor; this is known as the minimality condition (or requirement). The syntactic
represenataions in (13) illustrate how the Case lexical assigners (V and P) assign accusative Case to the governed NPs
in their governed domain.13
13.
3. Chomsky’s (1991, 1993, 1995) account of structural Case: the early minimalist syntax
The extension of the notion of government led to a number of theoretical questions against the government theory and
complicated the establishment of a unified theoretical basis for syntactic analysis. That is, the contradictions within the
theory motivated a new direction to the study of Case. Two basic problems of government are the contradiction between
nominative Case marking by an inflectional head and accusative Case marking by a lexical head as well as the problem
of the type of configuration in assigning Case. Such problems led to further cross-linguistic investigations. Chomsky
(1981) proposes four levels of representation: the Surface Structure, the Deep Structure, the Phonetic Form (PF), and
the Logical Form (LF). He also proposes that NPs are assigned Case under government. However, his levels of
representation were questioned in the minimalist analyses. Given this, Chomsky (1993) proposes replacing Case
assignment with Case checking. That is, Chomsky proposes that NPs/DPs enter a derivation fully inflected with
features; i.e. DPs are introduced with their Case features specified. In this connection, Hornstein (2005: 29) states that
“instead of requiring that DPs be assigned Case by a governing head, we say that the Case-feature of a DP must be
licensed by matching the Case-feature of a governing head. In place of assignment, we substitute checking.”
3.1 Spec-head approach: a unified theory
The publication of an influential study by Pollock (1989) on French and English made an attempt to unify the
configuration under which both nominative and accusative Case can be checked. Pollock (1989) proposes the Split-Infl
hypothesis which states that the IP consists of two maximal projections, Agreement Phrase (AgrP) and Tense Phrase
(TP). This hypothesis assumes that there will be two heads within the IP; one presenting tense (T0) and another
presenting (subject) agreement (Agr0) with the Agr being in a higher position than T. Chomsky (1995) stresses that the
functions of the (morphological) features of such projections are to "check properties of the verb that raises to them, and
they check the properties of the DP that raises to their Spec; thus they ensure that DP and V are properly paired"
(Chomsky, 1995: 197). Following Pollock's (1989) proposal, Chomsky (1991) proposes the split of the Agr into Agrs
and Agro to account for both subject and object agreement cross languages. Furthermore, Chomsky (1995: 174)
proposes a Spec-head approach to account for all agreement and Case assignment phenomena in which he indicates that
"both agreement and Case as manifestations of the spec-head relation…We assume that T raises to Agrs and V raises to
Agro" (p. 174). That is, nominative Case can be checked in [Spec-AgrsP] configuration and accusative Case in [Spec-
AgroP]. The procedure requires the subject NP to move to [Spec-AgrsP] to check nominative Case and subject
agreement features and the object NP raises to [Spec-AgroP] for accusative Case checking and object agreement
features. Hence, these proposals achieve the advantages of eliminating the complex notion of government, reducing
Case configuration relations into Spec-head agreement relations only and providing a unified basis for Case marking by
inflectional heads only. Hence avoiding the asymmetry of having case being assigned by lexical heads once and by
functional heads in another.
However, this proposal was not seen to be the perfect solution. According to Pollock's (1989) proposal, the subject NP
must raise to [Spec-Agr] for Nominative Case checking. Besides, the verb has to move to T as well. As a consequence,
this may lead to the problem of whether it would be possible to establish the required Spec-head relations while
maintaining the required word order of a particular language. For example, using this procedure in English will derive
ungrammatical sentences. This may be due to the fact that English verbs do not move to inflectional heads and
accordingly it may not be possible to derive the appropriate word order. Thus, we can have SOV word order for English
sentences.
In an attempt to solve the problem, Chomsky (1993) suggested a minimalist alternative; he proposed two-cycle syntax;
an overt cycle (feeding the phonetic form PF) and a covert cycle (leading the derivation to proceed to the LF). In doing
so, he assumed the overt movement of the subject DP from its base position to [Spec-AgrsP], and the covert movement
of the object DP to [Spec-AgroP]. Here, he reduced the levels of representation from four levels to only two levels: PF
and LF, thus paving the way to the beginning of a minimalist linguistic theory, mainly the Minimalist Program.
3.2 Case and feature checking
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By splitting the Agr projection, Chomsky (1993) proposes that the Agr node and the T node have both nominal features;
Case and agreement and verbal features; tense and agreement. According to Parody (1993) "the verbal features (V)
check the inflectional features of the verb and the nominal features (N) check the morphological features of the DPs
such as Case and agreement" (p. 372). Furthermore, Chomsky (1993) assumes that features vary in strength; they can be
strong or weak and the movement of a constituent to [Spec-AgrP] is motivated by the strength of its features. According
to Chomsky (1993), ‘‘strong’’ features are visible at PF while ‘‘weak’’ features (are) invisible at PF (p. 198). This
means that weak features need to be checked at LF whereas strong features are visible at PF and must be checked before
Spell-out. Features are often valued as [+/-Interpretable]. At LF, all features must be [+ Interpretable] which means that
they have been checked to be recognized. The process of checking such features is called feature checking which is
defined by Kennedy (2000) to be "a LOCAL relation (which is either) a Spec-head or Head-head relation" (p. 5). It
takes place via movement which may be overt (at PF) or covert (at LF). Chomsky (1995) points out that in such
movement, strong features need to move overtly at PF while weak features move covertly at LF. Chomsky (1995)
stresses that "A strong feature thus triggers a rule that eliminates it: [strength] is associated with a pair of operations,
one that introduces it into the derivation … a second that (quickly) eliminates it" (p. 233). This indicates that checking
weak features deletes them immediately. Moreover, Chomsky (1993) emphasizes that feature checking of Case
requires that T0 raises to Agrs0 and V0 to Agro0; the resulting complex [Agr T+Agrs] and [Agr V+Agro] check agreement
and license Case, nominative and accusative, respectively. He states that agreement is determined by the F-Features of
the Agr head of the Agr complex and Case by an element that adjoins to Agr (T or V).
However, in an attempt to refine some weaknesses pointed out by prominent syntacticians in the earlier version of
minimalist framework, Chomsky (1995) modifies his (1991-1993) proposals and suggests that the functional head
which licenses structural Case is the same one that checks verbal agreement. Thus, he dispenses with his (1991, 1993)
independent agreement (Agr) projection altogether. Fakih (2012) demonstrates that Chomsky (1995) dispenses with
Agr altogether in later versions of the minimalist assumptions, due to certain problems that arose in earlier analyses of
the Minimalist Program (1995). Chomsky asserts that Agr consists only of the strong features that force movement.
Chomsky stresses that the problems that arose in earlier drafts of the minimalist approach now disappear.
4. Recent developments in Chomsky’s minimalist syntax
To lead a derivation towards the interface levels, some syntactic operations must be applied. There are three core
syntactic operations in minimalist syntax: Merge, Agree, and Move. In his analysis of the operation Merge, Chomsky
(2001) states that “in its most elementary form, a generative system is based on an operation that takes structures
already formed and combines them into a new structure, call it Merge" (p. 3). Chomsky views the operation Merge as
an operation which forms larger units out of those already constructed; it is a recursive process. It also is conceived as a
"structure- building operation" by (Bobaljik, 1994: 1) in which two objects α and β are taken to form a new object (α, β)
from them. Moreover, Chomsky (2001) points out that "Merge takes two elements , already constructed and
creates a new one consisting of the two; in the simplest case {, } (p.6). The process can be demonstrated in (14) and
(15).
14. Merge (α, β) → {α, {α, β} }
15.
Merge is considered to be a binary process which is assumed to combine only two syntactic objects at a time to form
one larger syntactic object. It is also a recursive process which can be applied as many times as needed. Any constituent
formed by Merge can be remerged with another constituent. The output of Merge is identified with a label which
designates its properties. In other words, if one of the merged elements, say α for example, passes its properties to the
newly generated constituent, then α will be regarded as the head of the pair and the label of the new element. To clarify
the process, take the following example: 'write book' can be formed by merging the verb 'write' with the noun 'book' in
the following manner as illustrated in (16).
16. Merge (write, book) → { write,{ write, book}}The resulted constituent of Merge inherits its properties from the
verb and it is more likely to behave as a verb. That is, ' write book ' behaves like the verb 'write'. Therefore, the
label of the new element will be identified as a VP.
However, in later versions of MP, Merge has been distinguished to be of two types; external Merge and internal Merge.
External Merge takes two separate syntactic objects and combines them to form one larger syntactic object. Internal
Merge is similar to external Merge in combining two syntactic elements but it differs in that one of the merged objects
is part of the other. Internal Merge was known as 'Move'. It can be observed that Chomsky (2004) replaces the term
Move by Internal Merge. External Merge and internal Merge are represented by Citko (2011) in (17) for more
illustration.
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17.
The second syntactic operation in MP is Agree which is defined to be the relationship between an uninterpretable
feature on a probe and a target in the probe’s c-command domain (Chomsky, 2000, 2001; Bardeas, 2005; and Heck &
Richards, 2007). Agree helps in checking the uninterpretable features in order to cause them to converge at the LF.
Assuming this operation, Agree contributes to the development of a more flexible understanding of the agreement
phenomenon. It provides an explanation of the word order asymmetry observed in languages such as, Arabic. It differs
from the earlier conception of agreement in the GB framework in that it does not require movement and it is not
specifically a Spec-head relation. Thus, agreement has been treated as the result of a built-in operation; Agree in which
an agreement relation between two elements of a sentence can be established at a distance, though still subject to certain
locality considerations. This can be demonstrated in the following representationin (18).
18.
The third syntactic operation is Move. Like Merge, it is also a structure building operation. It received considerable
attention throughout the development of linguistic theories. In GB, move-alpha was an important process moving "any
element to anywhere at any time" (Hornstein, 2001: 2). Later, movement was considered to be motivated by the
necessity to check an unvalued feature. As previously mentioned, the valuation of uninterpretable features, in the early
versions of MP (Chomsky, 1993), required the movement of some elements from their base positions to a specifier
position of an Agreement head. However, with the abandonment of the Agr heads, the valuation of the interpretable
features was assumed to be checked in the specifier positions of the functional heads; TP and vP. After the introduction
of the operation Agree (Chomsky, 2000 and later), the role of the operation Move is restricted, to only satisfy the EPP
feature. According to Musabhein (2008), "EPP is a feature carried by the functional heads such as T; it requires that the
specifier positions must be filled" (p. 76). In Chomsky (1995), Move is considered a subtype of Merge; internal Merge.
In later versions of Chomsky's (2000) minimalist analyses, Move is considered to be a combination of both Merge and
Agree. Move establishes agreement between at least one feature of α and a corresponding (uninterpretable) feature of β
(uF) and merges β {P(F)} to αP where β {P(F)} becomes the specifier (Spec) of α [Spec,α]. In addition, Move is a
combination of "Copy + Merge" (Bobaljik, 1994: 3). That is, a moved element leaves a copy in the original place, a
trace which gets deleted in the PF, but remains available for interpretation at LF and in the same time is merged with a
new constituent. To make the point clear, Move can be represented in (19) below.
19.
4.1 Case and feature matching

Case and agreement features have received considerable attention in minimalist analysis of linguistic theory. Case and
agreement have been studied in relation to each other in a number of linguistic modules. In the GB theory (Chomsky
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1981-1991) Case features were assumed to be licensed in two syntactic configurations; a Spec-head agreement
configuration or a head-complement agreement. In early versions of the minimalist framework (Chomsky, 1993, 1995),
specifically in the Spec-head approach, Case was assumed to be licensed via agreement with AGR heads. Moreover, in
the Minimalist Inquiries of Chomsky's (2000, 2001) an agreement relation via an operation Agree was assumed to
license Case. This shows that Case and agreement are interrelated and hence should be studied in relation to each other.
In the recent MP accounts (Chomsky, 2000 and later), Case is defined as an uninterpretable feature which needs to be
valued before LF. It has been considered to be valued via the operation Agree. Accusative Case results from the Agree
relation between the head v and the object while nominative Case results from an Agree relation between the subject
and T. The distinctiveness of the operation Agree lies in the assumption that the valuation of Case does not motivate
movement which meets the economy requirements called by the MP.
4.2 Phase theory
The introduction of the concepts of phase and feature inheritance in Chomsky (2001, 2005) brought a significant
improvement to the notion of Agree. Chomsky (2001) defines phases as "the operative elements" (p. 15) within a
structure which means that they are the locus of features and the source for syntactic operations. Chomsky (2001, 2005)
divides a structure into two basic phases; CP and vP. TP and VP are not phases, and they do not have features
themselves but they inherit their features from the phase heads. For T, Chomsky asserts that it is not a phase and claims
that "in the lexicon, T lacks these features. T manifests the basic tense features if and only if it is selected by C…
Agree- and Tense-features are inherited from C, the phase head" (Chomsky, 2005: 11). The valuation of Case and
agreement occurs as a manifestation of the operation Agree between the phase head and a DP. For example, accusative
Case is the result of an Agree relation between the light verb v, the phase head of vP, and the object DP.
5. The proposed analysis
In our minimalist analysis of structural Case assignment in NA, we adopt Chomsky's (2001-2005) Agree theory and in
turn suggest an alternative framework of the subject under investigation. Chomsky (2001) proposes that Case is an
interpretable feature on the phase heads. He also assumes that Case is uninterpretable on DPs. Chomsky (2005)
speculates that the operation Agree operates on the probes (the phase heads) and the goals (the DPs) to value their
unvalued uninterpretable features. Chomsky (2001) proposes that the operation Agree applies when both the probe and
the goal are active. This activeness condition requires that both the probe and the goal carry an uninterpretable feature
which has to be valued. Thus, Agree is a mutual relationship between the goal and the probe. In his feature inheritance
framework, Chomsky (2005) assumes that Case and ϕ-features are inherited from the phase heads. Chomsky also
assumes that C, the head of the CP phase, is the source of all features on T. Case assignment on the subject or the object
is a reflex of an Agree relation which holds between the light v and the object for accusative Case, on the one hand, and
the C-T complex and the subject for nominative Case, on the other. This operation begins when the probe starts
searching for a matching active goal to value its uninterpretable features. In structural Case assignment, the phase heads
probe down for a goal to value their unvalued uninterpretable ϕ-features. The valuation of the agreement features (ϕ-
features) co-occur with the valuation of the Case features. The process can be demonstrated in the syntactic
representation in (20) below.
20.
To illustrate the point let us consider nominative Case assignment on subjects by T. The phase head C of the CP phase
passes its features to the head T of TP; an interpretable nominative Case feature and unvalued phi-features [uϕ]. The
head T is an active probe which searches for a goal with interpretable ϕ-features and unvalued Case features. Such a
goal will be a DP. DPs are merged with interpretable ϕ-features and unvalued Case features. The probe T will value the
unvalued Case features on the nearest goal and in the same time will have its ϕ-features valued by the DP. Hence, the
features on both the head T and the subject DP will be valued and then deleted in the syntax, as illustrated in the
syntactic representation in (21) below.
21.
5.1 Case morphology in Najrani Arabic

In this section, we explore the nature of Case morphology in NA and examine whether or not it is similar to that of
Standard Arabic. There is no doubt that Standard Arabic is well-known for its rich inflectional system of Case
assignment; Case is overtly assigned morphologically to nominals. There are three overt Case markers which are
suffixed to nominals in SA: -u is the overt suffix which shows the nominative Case marker, -a is the accusative Case
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marker, and -i is the genitive Case marker. The examples in (22) illustrate overt Case endings on nominals in Standard
Arabic.
22a. ?al-walad-u kataba risaalat-an

the.boy.nom wrote.3p.sg.m letter.acc.indef
'The boy wrote a letter.'
b. kataba ?al-walad-u risaalat-an
wrote.3p.sg.m the.boy.nom letter.acc.indef
'The boy wrote a letter.'
c. * ?al-walad-a kataba risaalat-un

the.boy.acc wrote.3p.sg.m letter.nom.indef
d. *kataba ?al-walad-a risaalat-un
wrote.3p.sg.m the.boy.acc letter.nom.indef
The subject DPs in both (22a) and (22b), in the post-verbal position and in the preverbal position, are assigned overtly
nominative Case. Singular DPs in Standard Arabic are inflected with (-u) for nominative Case, being for the overt Case
marker. The object DPs in both (22a) and (22b) are assigned overtly accusative Case. Singular DPs in SA are inflected
with (-a) for accusative Case. The ungrammaticality of the sentences in (22c) and (22d) stems from a violation of the
Case morphology. That is, using the accusative Case inflection (-a) with a subject renders the sentence ungrammatical.
Similarly, using the nominative Case marker (-u) with the object renders the sentence ungrammatical. Given this, SA is
sensitive to overt Case endings. From the sentences in (22) above, it is observed that Case in SA is overt and hence is
morphologically realized on nominals.
A closer look at the present-day English Case system demonstrates that Case is not overtly morphologically realized;
rather it is abstract. The following examples (23) illustrate the point in English.
23a. John loves Mary.
b. Mary loves John.
c. Kate saw Bill.
d. Bill saw Kate.
The sentences in (23) show that DPs in the subject and object positions do not show any overt Case ending realized on
them despite the fact that such DPs in the subject positions have been intentionally used in the object positions and vice
versa for the sake of more clarification. That is, there is no morphological change observed in the endings of such DPs
which can indicate the presence of overt Case markers. On the other hand, what remained of the Case system in the
present-day English can be seen in the pronominal system where Case distinction can be observed in pronouns. This can
be demonstrated in the following examples in (24).
24a. He loves her.
b. She loves him.
c. He saw her.
d. She saw him.
e. I respect them.
f. They respect me.
The sentences in (24) show clearly that the nominative subject pronouns are different from the accusative object
pronouns. The pronoun changes its morphological shape according to the syntactic position it occupies in the sentence,
as demonstrated in (24) above. For instance, the pronouns he, she, I, and they in (24) above are nominative subject
pronouns which must be used in the subject position whereas him, her, me, and them are accusative object pronouns
which have to be used in the object positions.
The questions that can be posed here are: Is Case overtly morphologically realized in NA in the same way as in SA? If
not, does NA have abstract Case similar to that of English?
Now let us examine whether Case markers in NA are overtly realized on nominals as in SA or whether NA Case is
abstract as in English. To illustrate the point let us consider the following examples from NA demonstrated in (25)
below.
25a. lʕeb el-walad kuurah
played.3p.sg.m the.boy.nom football.acc
'The boy played football.'
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b. el-walad lʕeb kuurah
the.boy.nom played.3p.sg.m football.acc
'The boy played football.'
c. el-bint ktabat el-giSSah
the.girl.nom wrote.3p.sg.f the.story.acc
‘The girl wrote the story.’
d. ktabat el-bint el-giSSah
wrote.3p.sg.f the.girl.nom the.story.acc
‘The girl wrote the story.’
The sentences in (25) illustrate that, like English, NA does not have overt Case endings, which means that Case is
abstract in NA. From the examples in (25) above it can be observed that both the subject and the object are not inflected
for Case in the sense that no Case markers are overtly realized on such DPs. However, this does not mean that NA does
not have Case. We argue here that NA does not have overt morphological Case but rather it has abstract Case which is
similar to that of English. Given this, we argue that the subject DPs el-walad 'the boy' and el-bint 'the girl' in (25) above
are assigned nominative Case and the object DPs kuurah 'football' and giSSah 'story' are assigned accusative Case. In
the sections below, we will discuss in detail how nominative Case and accusative Case are assigned in NA on the basis
of Chomsky's (2001, 2005) Agree theory.
5.2 Structural Case assignment in Najrani Arabic
This section discusses structural Case assignment in Najrani Arabic and shows how nominative and accusative Cases
are assigned in the language. The objective is to examine structural Case assignment in VSO and SVO sentences in NA
and then present an alternative minimalist analysis which seeks to provide a satisfactorily unified account of structural
Case assignment within Chomsky's (2001, 2005) Agree theory.
5.2.1 Structural Case assignment in VSO in NA
This section seeks to explore the syntax of structural Case assignment in NA with the aim to providing a satisfactorily
unified account on the subject under discussion within Chomsky's (2001, 2005) minimalist analysis advocated in Agree
theory which constitutes the phase theory and feature inheritance approach. We adopt the following clause structure in
(26) to represent the underlying Case-agreement features in VSO structures in NA.
26.
As shown in (26) above, we propose that in NA accusative Case assignment on the object DP is a reflex of an Agree
relation between the functional light v and the object; it is in this syntactic operation that accusative Case is valued by
the phase head v, being the probe. Consider the examples in (27) below to illustrate the point. The following syntactic
representation in (27e) shows how accusative Case is assigned structurally via the operation Agree in NA.
27a. gara yusef el-jeriidah
read.3p.sg.m Yusef.nom the.newspaper.acc
'Yusef read the newspaper.'
b. sherb- at rana el-ʕasiir

drank.3p.sg.f Rana.nom the.juice.acc
'Rana drank the juice.'
c. fetah nasser el-baab
opened.3p.sg.m Nasser.nom the.door.acc

'Nasser opened the door.'
d. saag ahmad el.syyarah
drove.3p.sg.m Ahmad.nom the.car.acc

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'Ahmad drove the car.'
e.
In all of these examples in (27) the verb raises to the functional light v head where it agrees with the object DP. Let us,
for instance, use the example in (27a) to clarify the point; the verb gara raises to the functional light v head where it
agrees with the object DP el-jeriidah and assigns it accusative Case, as illustrated in the following diagram in (28)
below.
28.
On the other hand, we assume that nominative Case on the subject is valued by the complex C-T which operates as the
probe. This means that the accusative Case feature is a feature of v while the nominative Case feature is a feature of C.
It is assumed in Chomsky's (2005) feature inheritance approach that the phase head C is the locus of features on T. C
transmits its Case and ϕ-features to the subject via the head T; it is in this operation that an Agree relation is established
between the C-T complex (the probe) and the subject DP (the goal); the latter receives nominative Case as an outcome
of this operation, as shown in (29) below. This means that the subject DP Yusef in (28a) above receives nominative
Case structurally via an Agree operation established between the complex C-T (the probe) and Yusef (the goal). This
can be demonstrated in (29) and exemplified in the representation in (30) below.
29.
30.
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The syntactic representation in (30) above reflects the process by which Case in VSO structures is valued. It starts by C
passing its features to T. C passes unvalued ϕ-features and a valued Case feature to T by which T probes down for a
matching goal to value the unvalued features.
The verb gara ‘read’ raises from V to the functional v head. The light v agrees with the object DP el-jeriidah ‘the
newspaper’ and assigns accusative Case to it. Then the verb raises to T to value its yet unvalued features. T in the VSO
structures does not receive an Edge feature (i.e, tense feature) from C, hence the subject stays in situ and does not raise
to [Spec-TP]. The C-T complex agrees with the subject DP Yusef in [Spec-vP] and assigns nominative Case to it.
5.2.2 Verbal copular sentences in NA
In this sub-section, we attempt to discuss verbal copular structures in NA in the light of structural Case assignment. The
objective is to show the morpho-syntactic behavior of verbal copular structures in NA, how nominative and accusative
Cases are assigned in the language, and how the NA data interact with the minimalist assumptions of Chomsky’s (2001,
2005) Agree theory. Before we explore the verbal copular structures in NA, let us see how the verbal copula operates in
the syntax of SA. It can be observed that the structure of a verbal copular sentence resembles the structure of any
normal verbal sentence in SA. It may look similar to the morpho-syntactic properties of the verb 'to be' in English. It
requires the obligatory presence of two arguments: a subject DP and a complement. It assigns nominative Case to the
subject and accusative Case to the complement. Consider the following examples from SA and its syntactic
representation in (31) to illustrate the point clearly.
31a. kaana ?al-walad-u mariid-an

was.3p.sg.m the.boy.nom sick.acc
'The boy was sick.'
b. kaanat al-bint-u mariid-at-an

was.3p.sg.f the.girl.nom sick.acc
'The girl was sick'.
c.
A closer look at the sentences in (31) above reveals the fact that a verbal copular sentence is identical to the normal
verbal sentence in SA in terms of structural Case assignment. As shown in the clause structure in (31c) above, the
lexical verb kaana ‘be-past’ raises from V to the functional light v position where it agrees with the complement and
assigns accusative Case to it structurally. In addition, we argue that the subject is base-generated in [Spec-vP] and is
assigned nominative Case by the C-T complex when the verb raises to T. Similar to any verbal sentence, the verb raises
from V to v and then to T.
The verbal copular sentence in NA almost behaves in the same manner as that of SA. The only difference between them
is that the verbal copular sentence in NA takes the VS form only; it cannot be of an SVO structure. Consider the
following examples in (32) from NA to illustrate the point.
32a. kaan el-walaad raaged

was.3p.sg.m the.boy.nom sleeping.acc
'The boy was asleep.'
b. *el-walad kaan raaged
the.boy.nom was.3p.sg.m sleeping.acc
The unacceptability of (32b) can be attributed to the presence of the subject before the verbal copula. Given this, a
condition on the verbal copular sentence in NA can be formulated which stipulates that the verbal copular structure
should strictly follow the VS order, not the SV order. This can be illustrated in (33).
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33.
In the NA clause structure in (33) above, the verb kaan moves from the lexical verb to the functional head v where it
assigns accusative Case to the complement raaged ‘asleep’ and then moves to T. The phase head C does not have an
Edge feature (i.e. tense feature) to pass to T. Therefore, the subject DP remains in situ at [Spec-vP]; any movement of
the subject DP el-walad to a higher position is not allowed in VSO copular structures. Hence, the verbal copular
sentences in NA exhibit only the VS order.
5.2.3 Structural Case assignment in SVO in NA
This sub-section discusses structural Case assignment in SVO structures introduced by the complementiser inn in NA. It
also shows how structural Case assignment in SVO structures introduced by the complementiser ?inna behaves in SA
with the aim of illustrating the difference between NA and SA in this regard.
Structural Case assignment in SVO sentences in SA has been a challenging matter since the sentence is found to have
two subject DPs; the preverbal DP and the post-verbal DP. Arab and Western linguists could not provide a satisfactory
analysis on the subject in question. The first challenge concerns the nature of the preverbal DP; some authors view it as
a subject whereas others treat it as a topic. This has been addressed by the traditional Arab grammarians (Sibawayh, 768
and Ibn Hisham, 1360).
On the one hand, the preverbal DP is considered to be a subject by some modern linguists because it is assumed to
move from [Spec-vP] to [Spec-TP] which is a position for subjects (Mohammad, 1990 2000; Demirdache, 1991;
Bahloul and Harbert, 1992; Fassi Fehri, 1993; Aoun et al., 1994; Bolotin, 1995; and Benmamoun and Lorimor, 2006,
among many others). Moreover, the preverbal DP is viewed as a topic by other linguists because it is assumed to be
located in the preverbal position and is associated with a resumptive pronoun within the clause (Plunkett, 1993; Akkal,
1996; Ouhalla, 1997; and Musabhein, 2008).
In this study, we argue that the preverbal DP in SVO structures in NA is a topic, not a subject. This means that the
preverbal DP is located in the specifier position of the Top Phrase, but not in [Spec-TP]. Given this, we assume that the
preverbal DP raises to the preverbal position via movement, and this syntactic movement is motivated by the Edge
feature (i.e. tense feature) on the head Top.
Moreover, another challenge which faces SVO structures in SA revolves around the question of how to present a
balanced treatment on Case assignment of both the post-verbal and the preverbal DPs in such SVO structures by the
same phase head. This problem stems from the fact that SVO structures contain two subject DPs within the CP phase.
The post-verbal subject DP is always invariably nominative whereas the preverbal DP can either be nominative or
accusative depending on the type of the head C. That is, if the phase head C is covert/null, the preverbal DP is assigned
nominative Case, as demonstrated in (34a) below. However, if the phase head C is overt, introduced by an overt Case
assigner ?inna, the preverbal DP is invariably assigned accusative Case, as demonstrated in (34b) below. This can be
illustrated in the following examples from SA in (34).
34a. ?al-?awlaad-u katab-uu al-dars-a
the.boys.nom wrote.3p.sg.m the.lesson.acc
'The boys wrote the lesson'.
b. ?inna al-?awlaad-a katab-uu al-dars-a

comp the.boys.acc wrote.3p.sg.m the.lesson.acc
'Indeed, the boys wrote the lesson'.
In (34a), the phase head C is null and therefore the preverbal DP is assigned nominative Case whereas in (34b) the
phase head C is occupied with an overt Case assigner ?inna, hence the DP is assigned accusative Case.
There are different proposals concerning the second problem. Linguists vary in their views upon the issue. Chomsky
(2005) proposes a long distance Agree relation by which the phase head C can value the features of both DPs without
movement. Chomsky (2005) states that "If C-T agrees with the goal DP, the latter can remain in-situ under long-
distance Agree, with all uninterpretable features valued; or it can raise as far as SPEC-T, at which point it is inactivated,
with all features valued, and cannot raise further to SPEC-C (p. 10).
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On the other hand, Soltan (2007) proposes that "the nominative case appearing on preverbal and post-verbal DPs is not
the same: Nominative case assigned to postverbal DPs is structural, whereas nominative case appearing on preverbal
DPs is actually the default case typically assigned to topics in this language in absence of any available lexical or
structural Case assigner" (p. 54). His proposal seems to be convincing because it matches the requirements of the
default Case as proposed by Schütze (2001). According to Schütze (2001), “the default Case forms of a language are
those that are used to spell out nominal expressions (e.g. DPs) that are not associated with any case feature assigned or
otherwise determined by syntactic mechanisms” (pp. 1-2). This means that the default Case is only assigned in the
absence of any lexical or structural Case assigners. Schütze (2001) proposes that the default Case in English is
accusative. However, the treatment of the default Case in Arabic reflects that the default Case is nominative (Mohamed
1990, 2000; Ouhalla 1994; Soltan, 2007; Musabhein, 2008; and Al-Balushi, 2010). This means that nominative Case
can be assigned to any DP when there is no available Case assigner. On the other hand, default Case, as proposed by
Soltan (2007), is "a last resort mechanism used only when the syntax fails to assign case … It is only confined to those
elements that do not engage in the agreement and case system" (p. 74).
However, the feature inheritance approach as adopted by Fassi Fehri (2005) and Musabhein (2008) helps them to avoid
the use of the default Case. Fassi Fehri (2005) proposes that there are two subjects: an external subject which is the
preverbal DP and an internal subject in the form of a pro(noun) which "is realized through rich agreement, involving
Person/Number/Gender and Case" (p. 4). He also assumes that every C assigns two Cases; an external accusative Case
to the preverbal noun phrase and an internal nominative Case to the post verbal pro subject. In his proposal, it is not
clear why C assigns two different cases without a clear strategy to do so.
Musabhein (2008), on the other hand, adopts a different position from that of Fassi Fehri's proposal on Case
assignment. Musabhein (2008) assumes that C has one nominative structural Case and another lexical accusative Case.
He proposes that the nominative Case on the subject DP is valued in [Spec-vP] by the C-T complex. He also proposes
that in preverbal DPs, the subject raises from [Spec-vP] to [Spec-TopP]. As it moves, the subject leaves behind a
pronounceable resumptive pronoun in its base position in [Spec-vP]. Musabhein (2008) further assumes that the raised
element works as an active goal to be valued by the phase head C. Moreover, he speculates "that the overt C … has a
non-structural intrinsic Lexical Case feature which is not part of the bundle of features that are transferred to T" (p.
126). In this connection, he claims that
"The structural Case that is assigned via T to the post-verbal subject is always nominative irrespective of the
type of C. Conversely, the value of the Lexical Case depends on the type of C; while the overt
complementiser assigns lexical accusative Case, … the covert complementiser assigns lexical nominative
Case to the preverbal noun phrase" (p. 130).
In this study, however, we adopt Chomsky’s (2001, 2005) Agree theory and assume that the phase head C is the locus
of features. In SVO structures, the phase head C passes its structural Case feature along with its ϕ-features to the head
T, and its edge feature (i.e. tense feature) to the head Top. Feature valuation within the feature inheritance model is a
bottom-up process. That is, the head T values the features of the DPs that it c-commands. After that, internal Merge can
take place and further valuation of features can occur. We assume that the underlying structure of features in SVO
sentences can be demonstrated in the syntactic representation in (35) below.
35.
Following Musabhein's (2008) proposal on Case assignment in Jordanian Arabic, we assume that the raising of a DP
from [Spec-vP] to [Spec-TopP] in NA leaves a copy of the raised item in [Spec-vP] in the form of a resumptive
pronoun. However, we diverge from Musabhein's condition that the resumptive pronoun is pronounceable and in turn
assume that the resumptive pronoun can be either overt or covert in NA. We argue that a plural DP leaves an overt
resumptive pronoun while a singular DP leaves only a covert pro(nominal). Given this, we propose that a pro(nominal)
is left in [Spec-vP]. This can be shown in the following representation in (36).
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 134
36.
The subject DP is base-generated in [Spec-vP]. T agrees with the DP in [Spec-vP] and assigns nominative Case to it.
Then the Edge feature (i.e. tense feature) on TopP motivates the DP to move to [Spec-TopP]. When the DP raises to
[Spec-TopP], it leaves a copy in its base position which stands as a holder for Case and agreement features. This copy
can either be overt (resumptive pronoun (RP)) or covert (pro). However, as the DP remerges in [Spec-TopP], it becomes
an active goal with which C agrees and assigns lexical Case. Consider the following examples from NA in (37) and
their representations in (38) to illustrate the point.
37a. el-ʕyaal kteba-uu risaalah
the.boys.nom wrote.pl.m- they.nom. letter.acc.indef.
'The boys wrote a letter'.
b. el-walad ketab risaalah

the.boy.nom wrote.3p.sg.m-pro.nom letter.acc.indef.
'The boy wrote a letter'.
38a.
38b.
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 135
In (38a), the subject DP el-ʕyaal ‘the boys’ is plural. When the subject DP el-ʕyaal raises to [Spec-TopP] to get
topicalization, it leaves behind an overt copy –uu (they), a resumptive pronoun (RP). The RP attaches with the verb on
the head T and forms the plural verb form kteba-uu 'they wrote'. However, in (38b), the subject el-walad ‘the boy’ is
singular. When it raises to [Spec-TopP], it does not leave behind an overt RP but instead it leaves a null/covert pro;
which is known in Standard Arabic as dhamiir mustater 'a covert/implicit/understood pronoun'. For that, nothing has to
be attached to the verb on T and hence it takes the singular verb form ketab 'he wrote'.
5.2.4 Case assignment of the preverbal DP
The preverbal DP can either be nominative or accusative. It is nominative if it is not preceded by any overt Case
assigner, otherwise it is accusative. Reconsider the examples in (34) above which are reproduced in (39) below for
further illustration.
39a. al-?awlaad.u katab-uu al-dars-a

the.boys.nom wrote.pl.m the.lesson.acc
'The boys wrote the lesson.'
b. ?inna al-?awlaad-a katab-uu al-dars-a
comp the.boys.acc wrote.pl.m the.lesson.acc
'Indeed, the boys wrote the lesson.'
In (39a), the preverbal DP is assigned nominative Case whereas in (39b) it is assigned accusative Case. The main
difference between the two is that (39b) contains an overt Case assigner ?inna which assigns accusative Case to the DP.
Furthermore, Fassi Fehri (2003) proposes that "subjects in SVO sentences receive default nominative only in the
absence of external governors, otherwise, they receive specific structural cases from the latter" (Fassi Fehri, 1993: 45).
Similarly, Soltan (2007) assumes that the preverbal nominative Case in SVO sentences is a default Case which is
assigned in the absence of structural and Lexical Case assigners. On the other hand, Musabhein (2008) proposes that C
has extra Lexical Case which is not transferred to T. This Lexical Case is accusative in the presence of an overt Case
assigner ?inna whereas it is nominative in the absence of any Case assigners. Lexical Case has been defined to be
"word bound, i.e. tied to specific lexical entries" (Braðdal, 2011: 5). It has also been defined to be "based on the (Case
assignment) specifications of particular lexical items" (Eisenbeiss, 2006:3).
Building on the preceding analyses and following Musabhein's (2008) proposal, we propose that an overt C such as
?inna in SA and inn in NA has an intrinsic Lexical Case property. Based on this, the overt C enters into an Agree
relation with the preverbal DP and assigns accusative Case to it. However, we diverge from Musabhein's (2008)
proposal in that we do not consider the preverbal nominative Case as a Lexical Case. Instead, we assume, following
Fassi Fehri (1993) and Soltan (2007), that it is a default Case which is assigned when no structural or lexical relations
are available to assign another Case. Consider the following NA example in (40) below to illustrate the point.
40a. el-walad yalʕab kuurah
the.boy.nom play.3p.sg.m football.acc
'The boy is playing football.'
b. inn el-walad yalʕab kuurah
comp the.boy.acc play.3p.sg.m football.acc
'Indeed, the boy is playing football.'
In (40a), the preverbal DP el-walad ‘the boy’ is not preceded by any overt Case assigner so it is assigned default
nominative Case. However, in (40b), the preverbal DP is preceded by the complementizer inn, the overt Case assigner,
which assigns a lexical accusative Case to the subject. It can be observed in the preceding examples in (40), and
throughout the study, that Case in NA is not overtly morphologically realized as in SA. This does not mean that NA
does not have Case, rather, Case is abstract; it is similar to that of English.
6. Conclusion
This study has discussed the assignment of structural (nominative and accusative) Case in NA and has shown that Case
in NA is abstract; this means that Case is not overtly morphologically realized in NA, similar to that of English. It has
also explored structural Case assignment in VSO and SVO structures in NA within Chomsky's (2001, 2005) Agree
theory and has pointed out that structural Case in NA is assigned via an Agree relation between a probe and a goal
within a c-command domain. In VSO structures, for instance, nominative Case is assigned by the C-T complex via an
Agree relation established between T and the subject in [Spec-TP] while accusative Case is a reflex of an Agree relation
between the light v and the object DP. We have assumed that the Case value on a DP is the product of an Agree relation
between a probe (a phase head) and a goal (a DP). Furthermore, we have shown that accusative Case on the object DP
in NA is a reflex of an Agree relation between the functional light v and the object. However, in SVO structures
introduced by the complementiser inn, it has shown that there are two DPs; a post-verbal DP and a preverbal one. The
post-verbal DP is assigned nominative Case by the C-T complex while the preverbal DP is assigned accusative lexical
Case or default nominative Case.
IJALEL 5(5):119-138, 2016 136
Moreover, in exploring SVO order, the study has shown that the preverbal DP is a topic, not a subject. It has stressed
that the preverbal DP is a topic which is located in TopP by movement; this movement is motivated morpho-
syntactically by the Edge feature on that phase. Besides, it has been proposed that the movement of the preverbal DP
leaves behind a resumptive pronoun (RP) in its base position which serves as a place holder for the Case and agreement
features in the base position in [Spec-vP]. It has further assumed that the resumptive pronoun can be overt or covert in
the structure. It has proposed that an overt RP in NA is found in plural DPs and it manifests itself in the form of a
number clitic attached onto the verb. Moreover, it has been postulated that a covert pro (nominal) is left in [Spec-vP] as
a holder for Case and agreement which resembles the covert/implicit/understood pronoun phenomenon known as
dhamiir mustater in SA. In addition, we have assumed that the raised DP is an active goal for a further Case valuation
consideration discharged by C itself. We have also proposed that the type of Case assigned to the preverbal DP depends
on the type of C. We have assumed that an overt C assigns lexical Case by means of the overt lexical item in C, while a
covert C assigns the default Case to that DP.
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The Discursive Construction of Teachers’ Desirable Identity on

a Social Networking Site
Radzuwan Ab Rashid (Corresponding author)
Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
Kamariah Yunus
Azmi, N.J.
Safawati Basirah, Z.
Shireena Basree Abdul Rahman

Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, 42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Yusoff, S.Z.

Abstract
This study is situated in the broader identity-construction literature. Bringing discourse community theory to examine
teachers’ postings on Facebook Timelines, we explored how teachers discursively construct socially desirable identities
to fit into the Timeline community. Data were gathered from the Status updates and Comments on 29 Timelines
belonged to Malaysian English language teachers who were purposively chosen as they often posted and commented on
teaching-related issues on their Timelines. The analysis shows that the commonest form of identity construction on the
teachers’ Timelines was as an engager which had been carefully constructed to portray positive self-image. This paper
concludes that when participating on a public networking site, the teachers were being strategic as not to construct
identities which could tarnish their professional image.
Keywords: English language teachers, Malaysia, discursive identity, Facebook, engager
1. Introduction
The birth of the internet in computer technology has been celebrated as part of the modern life. The use of internet has
been phenomenal in the past two decades since the web development gained its speed and momentum in society
(Faimau, 2007). The development of social networking sites during the later part of 2000s brings new opportunities for
internet users to become ‘producers rather than simply users of contents produced for them by social, political, and
cultural institutions, and commercial companies’ (Campbell, 2012, p.44). The recent proliferation in the use of social
networking sites (SNSs) has resulted in new studies examining the role that SNSs play in identity construction
(e.g.Schwartz and Halegoua, 2015; Rashid et al., 2016). Research on identity has been approached from many
perspectives, such as the psychological perspective (e.g. Bruner, 1995; Erikson, 1959), sociolinguistic perspective (e.g.
Schriffin, 1996; Rashid, Rahman, and Rahman, 2016) and educational perspective (e.g. Hammersley, 2002). This paper
IJALEL 5(5):139-144, 2016 140
aims to contribute to the existing literature by providing insights into how Malaysian English language teachers
construct the identity of an engager in their daily lives on Facebook Timelines.
2. Discursive Identity
The aim of this section is not to provide a thoroughgoing history of the concept of identity, but to discuss in some depth
the discursive view of identity as this paper closely focuses on teachers’ discursive behavior on Facebook Timelines.
Benwell and Stokoe (2006) and Gee (2000) conceptualize identity as ‘being recognized as a certain kind of person in a
given context’ (p.99). Gee refers to discursive identity as ‘D-identity’ and he emphasizes the socio-constructionist
aspect of this type of identity that it cannot be ‘achieved all by oneself’ (p.103). The particular trait, such as being an
engaging teacher is only recognized when ‘other people treat, talk about, and interact’ with them (ibid, p.103).
Discursive identity construction is closely related to Goffman's (1959) ‘self-presentation’ (p.4). Jones and Pittman
(1982) suggest individuals can present themselves in particular ways using five impression-management techniques
enacted through discourse: self-promotion, ingratiation, exemplification, intimidation, and supplication. Self-promotion
is used by individuals to present themselves as being capable of doing something by highlighting their self-
achievements whilst ingratiation is used to convey an impression of being likeable. Exemplification is used to convey
an impression of being hardworking and committed beyond what is necessary or expected in completing particular
tasks. Intimidation is used to convey an impression of being powerful, while supplication is used to receive compassion
and assistance from others by presenting the self as weak.
Many scholars (e.g. Davies, 1989; Haniford, 2010; Rashid, 2016a) agree that the fundamental principle underlying the
theory of discursive identity construction is that individuals do not have fixed identities since identities are constituted
and reconstituted by the various discursive practices in which they participate. On the other hand, Haniford argues that
discursive practices are influenced by specific contexts and the position inhabited by individuals within a particular
social space. Understanding discursive identities requires more than the verbal analysis of discourse, but needs to
include various socio-cultural aspects of discourse - where and when the discourse occurred and who was involved - to
fully understand teachers’ discursive identities in a particular context. Identities constructed in the discourse involving
teachers and students in the classroom are most likely to be different from the identities constructed in the discourse
involving colleagues in the staffroom.
The emergence of SNS, such as Facebook and Twitter, affords teachers a platform to construct identities where they are
simultaneously ‘watched’ by multiple audiences with various backgrounds. Borrowing Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical
framework, which conceptualizes identity or the self as a dramatic effect based upon how individuals act (in the
theatrical sense), the Timelines are the ‘front stages’ where discursive social performances take place.
Discursive identity is created through engaging in interactions with other people, thus it is fluid rather than stable as
different identities are constructed in different contexts, either by individuals or ascribed to them by other people. To
accomplish or be ascribed their desired identities, individuals may use different kinds of impression-management
techniques and discursive psychology strategies.
3. Discourse community
Proponents of the concept of discourse community, such as Swales (1988, 1990), Johns (1997) and Pogner (2005), all
define a discourse community as a group of communicators who share common goals or interests and adopt certain
preferred discursive practices in public discussion. In his conceptualization of discourse community, Swales (1990)
proposed six defining characteristics that he argues are both necessary and sufficient to identify a particular group of
people as a discourse community discussed in the following paragraphs.
A discourse community has ‘a broadly agreed set of common public goals’ related to the interests of community
members which can be formally stated or be more tacit in nature (Swales, 1990, p.471). Swales emphasizes the
'publicness' of a discourse community as a result of it having no restrictions on who can join. For instance, a discourse
community on Timelines may consist of non-teaching Friends from diverse backgrounds, individuals from different
professions or family members. The members of this community participate to have ‘informational opportunities’ and
feedback from each other (p.472), which resonates with participation in Gee’s (2005) affinity space as highlighted in
Rashid (2016a).
In addition, a discourse community has ‘mechanisms of intercommunication among its members’ which often vary
according to the community (Swales, 1990, p.471) and may include ‘meetings, telecommunications, correspondence,
newsletters, conversations and so forth’ (p.472). In the case of the teachers in this study, the mechanism of
intercommunication is written conversations used as a means to interact with each other through the Status update and
Comment functions.
What makes a discourse community differ from Lave and Wenger's (1991) Community of Practice (CoP) and Gee's
(2005) affinity space is its focus on the discourse elements of the community. For Swales (1990), a discourse
community ‘has and continues to develop discoursal expectations’ of how members can get things done through the use
of language - the ‘appropriacy of topics, form, function, and positioning of discoursal elements’ (p.472). It also has a
specific lexis such as community-specific abbreviations and acronyms (e.g. SBA). Its members consist of individuals
with different levels of ‘content and discoursal expertise’ (p.472). For instance, English language teachers with varying
levels of grammar (content) knowledge or skills in effectively holding a conversation may form a discourse community
as membership is not restricted to teachers with the same level of expertise.
IJALEL 5(5):139-144, 2016 141
4. Research Design
This study closely focused on the participants’ unfolding discourse as they interact on Timelines. The participants are
29 Malaysian English language teachers teaching in secondary schools across the country. These teachers were
purposively chosen as they often posted and commented on teaching-related issues on their Timelines. The data set
consists of 178 teaching-related Status updates on the Timelines, together with the 1226 Comments that these had
attracted. Ethical and methodological issues that arose in this study have been discussed in a paper published by
Nottingham Jubilee Press (see Rashid, 2014).
Discourse analysis in its broadest sense and discursive psychology are the two different forms of discursive analytical
approach employed in this study. Broad discourse analysis provides a framework for understanding general
communicative behaviour within which syntax, semantics and pragmatics can be situated (Miller, 2004). The foci of
analysis in this broad discourse analysis approach are traditional theoretical linguistics, such as choice of syntactic
construction, choice and structure of referring expression/noun phrases, choice of tense and aspect and choice of word
order.
Besides broad discourse analysis, Edwards and Potter's (1992) discursive psychology is also employed as an analytical
approach in this study to examine how teachers construct their desired identities through the Status updates and
Comments on their Timelines. Employing discursive psychology enabled the exploration of how identities are handled
and managed in discourse. The foci of analysis suggested by Edwards and Potter are those involving blame, justification
and defence.
5. Discussion and Analysis- The engager
This section discusses three examples of Status updates where the identity of an engager is salient. These Status updates
are chosen to highlight different strategies employed by teachers in constructing their identities.
Extract 1 is a Status update taken from Liza’s Timeline where she constructs the identity of an engager by presenting
herself as a curious teacher willing to learn from ex-students in order to become a better teacher. She introduces the
topic by asking her ex-students how they improved English after leaving secondary school and what activities the
students would have liked to have had when they were in secondary school.
Extract 1
1 Salam n good morning!
2 to my ex-students-some questions.
3 what activities actually helped you to improve your English?
4 in school or at university.
5 i know some students actually improved so much
6 when you go to matriks/foundation.
7 how did you improve?
8 and what activities did you wish you have
9 so that you could have improved your English earlier?
10 Thank you for your response! Have a great day!
(Liza/SU1)
Liza begins this Status update with a proper greeting (line 1) which is rarely done by other teachers on Timelines. The
way Liza ‘speaks’ to her ex-students in this online space resembles the common pattern of a teacher who talks to their
students face-to-face in the classroom. This implies that Liza maintains her institutional identity as a teacher, even when
interacting with students on Facebook. She begins with a proper greeting just like what a teacher always does when they
are about to begin a class. This Status update is also written using ‘non-vernacular language’ or a ‘specialist style of
language’ (Gee, 2014, p.8) which contributes to the projection of her institutional identity.
Liza’s curiosity is made explicit by asking three questions in a single Status update. Tsui (1992) identifies three
functions of questions: to elicit information, to elicit confirmation of the speaker’s assumption, and to elicit agreement
about what has been said by the speaker. All the questions asked in this Status update function to elicit information, thus
emphasizing her eagerness to learn. The first question is about the activities that helped them improve their English
(line 3). She then adds, in school or at university (line 4).
Despite being a school teacher, Liza is also interested to know about effective language-enhancement activities carried
out both in school and at university, hence emphasizing her identity as a curious teacher. She uses an empirical
construction (Potter, 1996) when she says she knows some students improved a lot when they did
matriculation/foundation courses (lines 5-6). By doing this, she creates an empirical basis for her curiosity.
Liza then moves from the what to the how question when she asks them how they improved (line 7). She moves on
from the easy question asking students to describe what activities to the more difficult question of how, which requires
explaining the process of improving their language skills. Her curiosity and eagerness does not affect her effective
questioning strategy, which is to start from the low order thinking questions before asking higher order thinking
questions (Chuska, 1995). Liza shows acute awareness of how to get the ex-students to respond to her on Facebook so
IJALEL 5(5):139-144, 2016 142
she can satisfy her curiosity. If she began with a higher-order question, her ex-students might just ignore the Status
update. As pointed by Rashid (2016b), teachers strategically craft their Status updates so that other users will take up
the topic initiated by them.
The third question Liza asks is about the activities they wish they had been involved in to improve their English earlier
(lines 8-9). Her curiosity is clear in this question, showing her interest in the kind of activities that the students wish had
been carried out. This question is tailored to meet the context of English language learning at school through using the
word earlier, which implies she is referring to the schooling phase prior to enrolment in tertiary education. Despite
showing curiosity about students’ language activities at university, Liza knows her real need is knowledge of effective
language activities at school. In fact, the question about language activities carried out at university could be seen as a
strategy to attract more responses from her students, as it is relevant to them now they are studying at university. From
another perspective, it is also reasonable to suggest that Liza is looking for teaching strategies at the university so that
she could adapt and adopt the strategies in her class.
Towards the end of the Status update, Liza thanks her ex-students in advance of their responses and wishes them a great
day (line 10). It is interesting that, reflecting her curiosity to learn and expand her knowledge by seeking instrumental
support on Timeline, Liza does not forget her professional identity. She greets the students, formulates her questions
clearly, and uses the appropriate questioning techniques as well as thanking them in advance to show appreciation of the
students’ (hoped for) responses. Contacting ex-students on Timelines to find out about ‘pedagogical content knowledge’
(Shulman, 1987, p.8) can be associated with ‘self-promotion’ and ‘ingratiation’ (Jones and Pittman, 1982). She
promotes herself by showing that she is as a teacher who is willing to learn and she conveys the message that she has a
close rapport with her ex-students, thus being a likeable teacher.
Besides showing curiosity to learn more, the teachers also construct the identity of an engager by showing the
determination to further improve themselves as teachers. For instance, in the Status update in Extract 2, Syiba puts forth
her belief that a teacher must be determined to teach students until they get a true understanding of the subject matter.
Extract 2
1 one of my students commented.
2 -ticer terlalu zuhud apbl ticer kata ticer failed bila students failed
to understand apa yg ticer ajar.
(English: Teacher is too devoted when teacher said teacher failed
when students failed to understand what teacher taught)
3 i said-no.cz it’s a ticer’s responsibility to teach something
sampai students diafaham (English: until the student understands)
4 ignorance is bliss is sooooo wrong when it comes to students.
5 i must not give up. must find a way.perlu jd guru yg lebih baik!
(English: Must be a better teacher!)
(Syiba/SU5)
This Status update has the elements of storytelling in that it involves the use of a constructed dialogue (lines 2-3) and
the complication when Syiba disagrees with the student (line 3). Syiba introduces the topic by highlighting how one of
her students ascribed the identity of a too devoted teacher to her, which she rejects before expressing her determination
to be a better teacher. Note that the subject of the opening sentence is one of her students (line 1), which makes the
student the center of attention. By highlighting the fact that the student allocated this particular identity to her, Syiba
avoids the risk of being seen as a bragger. To further emphasize the student’s agency, she engages in ‘intertextuality’
(Gee, 2014, p.46) by constructing the student’s dialogue (line 2). Hence readers are made to feel that they are listening
to the student’s original voice and not a reported statement that might have been manipulated by her. In this constructed
dialogue (Tannen, 1989), Syiba uses a mixture of Malay and English, besides using the short forms such as ticer for
teacher and apbl for apabila (English: when). Here Syiba employs the discursive psychology strategy of producing
factual description (Edwards, 2005) to show the realness of her conversation with the students, hence convincing the
readers that she is merely sharing the student’s comment and not manipulating or bragging about anything.
In line 3, Syiba chooses to highlight her refusal to accept the ascribed identity, which suggests she took no pride in
being described as too-devoted or too committed by her students. As pointed out by Benwell and Stokoe (2006), an
ascribed identity can be resisted if individuals do not like the identity. However, in this case, Syiba resists this ascribed
identity not because she does not like it but to show that she is not flattered by the student’s comment, and hence should
not be perceived as bragging about this quality on Facebook. Refusing the identity ascribed by the students enables
Syiba to construct another identity, which is more positive than the identity of being too-devoted or too-committed by
putting forward her beliefs that a teacher has responsibility for teaching something until it is understood by the student
(line 3). Syiba wants to be seen as a responsible teacher who would thoroughly teach the subject matter until the
students really understand, not just ask them to memorize things without any proper understanding. Similar to Liza
(Extract 1), Syiba engages in ‘self-promotion’ and ‘ingratiation’ (Jones and Pittman, 1982) as she tells readers that she
is perceived to be too devoted and the conversation with the student suggests that the student likes her.
IJALEL 5(5):139-144, 2016 143
To further emphasize her determination, Syiba writes ignorance is bliss is sooooo wrong when it comes to students (line
4) which suggests she does not simply ignore students who do not understand. She spells the intensifier so with four
extra ‘o’s to emphasize her disagreement with the phrase ignorance is bliss in this context. In her last line, the identity
of a determined teacher is emphasized by highlighting her intention to improve her teaching strategies and herself as a
teacher. This great determination is reflected in the use of the ‘three-part list’ (Potter, 1996, p.196) in I must not give up,
must find a way, must be a better teacher! (line 5). The use of the exclamation mark gives an energized tone to this last
line and reflects Syiba’s motivation to be a good teacher.
Extract 3 is another example of a Status update used to construct the identity of an engager. This Status update is taken
from Sharifah’s Timeline where she constructs the identity of an engager by recounting on successful classroom
activities, which show that she can perform at her very best as a teacher. Sharifah introduces the topic by sharing a
successful activity carried out with her students and she thanks the students for making her professional life beautiful.
Extract 3
1 Poem in motion..
2 today i had fun wf my f3 n f5 dramatizing our poem!
3 budak x ngantuk, cikgu pun enjoy gelak tengok performance
mereka yg hebat2 ni…
(English: students x sleepy, and teacher enjoyed laughing
watching performance from these talented people..)
4 Tq kids for making my life beautiful!
(Syiba/SU5)
Sharifah makes the activity that she carried out the center of attention or the topic of this Status update, where she
writes at the very beginning Poem in motion (line 1). She highlights the fun she had with her students doing this activity
(line 2), which reflects the success of the activity. At the same time, she mentions that the form three and form five
students also enjoyed the activity (line 2), hence emphasizing her success in catering for the needs of different levels of
students.
To further emphasize the success of the activity, Sharifah reveals that the students were not sleepy and that they
managed to put their talents into practice (line 3). She positions her students as being engaging to illustrate the identity
of a successful teacher. She ends this Status update by thanking her students, for making her life beautiful (line 4). The
exclamation mark in this last sentence shows her excitement about the successful classroom activity. This last line,
which has a happy tone, is important as it creates the effect that this Status has been updated by Sharifah to share her
amusement and thank her students, rather than bragging about the successful teaching strategy she used (which is not
explained). By sharing the success of this classroom activity on her Timeline, Sharifah can be said to use ‘self-
promotion’ technique (Jones and Pittman, 1982, p.241) to manage the impression that she is capable of making student
learning interesting.
6. Conclusion
The teachers have constructed the identity of an engager mainly by showing that they are eager to learn, by inquiring
about teaching-related knowledge and information on their Timelines or expressing their determination to further
improve themselves as teachers. The teachers also share their teaching-related achievements, such as carrying out
effective classroom activities and getting positive feedback from students in their attempts to construct the identity of an
engager. The impression management techniques used are mainly exemplification, self-promotion and ingratiation so
that Friends view them as committed, capable teachers loved by their students hence portraying positive self-image of a
teacher. Insights into the identity construction put forth in this paper contribute to our understanding that the teachers
are being strategic when postings on the SNS that they carefully craft the postings to construct their desirable identity.
In pursuit of answers to the research question set out in this study, many new questions have emerged. Some of these
questions are: Will the teachers construct a similar identity if they use other SNSs?; Is there any difference in the way
teachers co-construct their common identity on Timelines and in Facebook Groups? - If yes, what are the differences? If
no, why not? Further research is needed to find answers to these questions so that teachers’ discursive behaviour on
SNS can be further scrutinized. In other words, the teachers’ discursive behaviour discussed in this paper needs to be
examined in a new context. For instance, future research may focus on primary school English language teachers (rather
than secondary school English language teachers), in Facebook Groups (rather than on Timelines) and possibly after a
policy concerning teachers’ use of SNS has been established or after Facebook has introduced new privacy settings. In
addition, future studies could also take a longitudinal approach, for instance, monitoring the interactions in the co-
construction process over a two-year period. Such longitudinal research would be useful for providing insights into the
development of teachers’ discursive practices and whether the teachers still construct similar common identity over
time.
IJALEL 5(5):139-144, 2016 144
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L2 Motivational Self System Among Arab EFL Learners:

Saudi Prespective
Ali Ayed S. Alshahrani
University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia

Abstract
The current paper investigates the validity of the motivational L2 self system tripartite model as to explaining the L2
motivational behaviours of a sample of Arab university level EFL students in southern Saudi Arabia. Dörnyei’s L2
Motivational Self System (2009) is used as the theoretical framework. A survey was designed and administered to about
400 Saudi male undergraduate students majoring in English. The obtained data were coded and analysed. The results
upheld the validity of the of the L2 Self System model’s core components of Ideal L2, Ought-to L2 and learning
experiences of English, as well as their relevance in the Saudi context. The findings indicated high significance levels
and strong contributions from the Ideal L2 and Language Learning Experiences to the learners’ reported efforts in
learning English as the criterion measure. Both components make stronger contributions to explaining the variance than
Ought-to L2 component.
Keywords: Motivational self-system, Arab learners, EFL context
1. Background
Language shapes actions (Dörnyei, 2005; 2007). Indeed, the factors that motivate learners to acquire a second language
and shape the direction and magnitude of learners’ action, constitute integrative orientation. Integrativeness represents
learners’ desires and aspirations to be identified as members of the L2 linguistics community and be able to mix with
the target language speakers’ community (Gardner, 1985). The integrative orientation acts as the fundamental
component of the socio-psychological theory proposed by the pivotal research work of Robert Gardener and his
associate (Gardner & Lambert, 1972) which assumed that “most of the attitudinal, cognitive-situational, and
motivational variables believed to predict success or failure in second language learning” (Gardner, 1985). The
integrative concept has strongly overshadowed L2 motivation research literature for many generations, and has given
rise to numerous insights into L2 motivation.
The swift development of telecommunication and the process of globalisation have deterritorialised the attitudes and
attribution of beliefs about language as a sole trait fits to a single locale (Blommaert, 2010). Learners’ perceptions of
English as a global language (lingua franca) have highlighted the integrative concept’s failure to uphold the multiversity
of the new conceptualisations of the multidimensional social identity construct prevalent in multilingual and
multicultural societies (Coetzee-Van Rooy, 2006; McNamara, 1997; Norton, 1995). This complexity is a prime
drawback and a strong criticism of Gardner’s theory of L2 motivation. Indeed, many researchers have admitted that the
latter is inappropriate for different educational and cultural situations outside Canada (Crooks & Schmidt, 1991), that it
fails to integrate with recent cognitive-situated theories of motivation (Oxford & Shearin, 1994), and that it is incapable
in today’s globalisation era (e.g., Lamb, 2004; McClelland, 2000). These developments have fuelled debate surrounding
a possible, and substantial, reconceptualisation of motivational theory to language learning, in a way that builds on prior
understanding of L2 motivation and “[it] is embedded and develops within a complex web of environmental and social
influences” (Fan, 2011, p. 159). Indeed, this conceptualisation would be valid to global English in the 21st century and
would place great emphasis on how learners’ image of themselves as language learners effects their learning progress
(Dörnyei, 2005; 2009).
In order to accommodate previous research findings, a new motivational paradigm is presented by Dörnyei (2005). He
proposed a conceptual framework that presents motivation as the result of learner’s aspiration to diminish the
discrepancy between his/her image of what he/she would like to become, and his/her actual self-state. The L2
Motivational Self System paradigm presents an assemble of two recent conceptualisations of motivation put forth by
Noels (2003) and Ushioda (2001); this can also be said of research into personality psychology on possible selves and
identity by Higgins (1987) and Markus & Nurius (1986), as well as Dornier’s empirical research (2005, 2009).
1.1 The L2 Motivational Self System
Dörnyei debated that the L2 Motivation Self System concept of self-perspective is synchronised with the integrative
IJALEL 5(5):145-152, 2016 146
concept of previous L2 motivation traditional theories to present a holistic reference. Indeed, this reference helps to
explain the motivational features in diverse learning contexts where there is limited contact with L2 speakers. The L2
Motivation Self System is well suited to investigating the motivational traits of language Franca in this age of
globalisation.
Dörnyei (2005, 2009) proposed that the L2 Motivational Self System model comprises of three main dimensions: The
Ideal L2 self, the Ought to L2 self, and the L2 learning experience.
The Ideal L2 Self is the principal constituent and is centred around the internal desires of the learner. Dörnyei (2005)
explained it as “the L2 specific facet of one’s ideal self” (p. 106). It represents an ideal image of the kind of L2 user one
desires to become in the future, namely a proficient orator of an L2. It acts as an influential motivate to diminish the
variances between the learners’ real self, and this imaginary ideal image. It also regulates positive outcomes, that is,
one’s aims and expectations of being successful in the L2 on personal and professional levels. The Ought-to L2 self is
the L2-specific aspect of one’s ought-to self. It is grounded around the motivational regulations shaped by the social
pressure of affecting persons in the learners’ surrounding environment such as including family, peers and language
instructors. The Ought-to L2 Self refers to the traits that one should retain to meet anticipations and to evade undesired
results. Moreover, this less-internalised aspect of the L2 self pertains these attributes to “perceived duties, obligations,
or responsibilities” (Dörnyei, 2005, p.106). The last constituent of the model is the L2 learning experience. It is centred
around the learners’ “actual experience of being engaged in the learning process” (Dörnyei, 2009, p. 218). It
acknowledges the impact of the immediate situation-specific motives (e.g. classroom processes, teachers, textbooks,
assessment criteria and achieved grades) on learners’ engagement in the learning process and experience.
The tripartite L2 Motivational Self System model has already been empirically scrutinised in a range of diverse EFL
contexts, including Japan (Ryan, 2009; Sampson, 2012), China (Chen, Wardpen, & Chang, 2005; You, Dörnyei, &
Csizér, 2015; Magid & Chan, 2012; Huang, Hsu, & Chen, 2015), Iran (Papi, 2010; Papi & Teimouri, 2012), Hungary
(Csizér & Kormos, 2009), Chile (Kormos, Kormos, Kiddle & Csizér, 2011), Saudi Arabia (Alshehri, 2009), Indonesia
(Lamb, 2012),Pakistan (Islam, Lamb & Chambers) and Korea (Kim & Kim, 2014). Some of these countries have also
been compared with each other in terms of their use of this model; an example would be Taguchi, Magid, & Papi,
(2009)’s comparative study of the Chinese, Japanese, and Iranian EFL contexts. These studies have mostly confirmed
the multilateral construction of the model.
The Ideal L2 self-dimension has been found to be the strongest component of the model when it comes to predicating
the variance in learners’ intention to learn the language and their learning behaviours in EFL contexts. In contrast,
Lamb (2012)’s study of Indonesian high school students’ Ideal L2 selves, revealed suppressing results. Lamb attributed
this to the ideal image and vague view of this component during the early adolescence period. The Ideal L2 self-
dimension was found to positively correlate with integrativeness and instrumental motives (Taguchi et al., 2009). It was
also found to be effected by students’ future self-image progress during their language learning period (Papi, 2010).
These recent empirical investigations revealed the weak contribution of the Ought-to L2 self dimension in shaping the
learning behaviours of EFL/ESL learners. The Ought-to L2 self has a limited capability when it comes to predicating
the variance in learners’ behaviour while they are studying the language (Csizér & Kormos, 2009; Kormos et al., 2011;
Papi, 2010; Taguchi et al., 2009). It was considerably less effective in predicting the variance in learners’ language
learning behaviours when compared to the Ideal L2 self dimension. However, the Ought-to L2 self-correlated more
closely with the prevention-focussed aspects of instrumentality motives, as well as the influence of family members,
close friends and school authority personnel, specifically in Arab and Asian cultures (Alshahri, 2009; Islam et al., 2013;
Taguchi et al., 2009; Papi, 2010).
The L2 learning experience dimension of the L2 Motivational Self model has a similar effect in shaping learners’
learning attitudes and motivated behaviours. It has proven to have the same effect on the criterion measures as the Ideal
self dimension within specific regional contexts. The L2 learning experience concerns learners’ attitudes toward second
language learning and can be affected by situation-specific motives related to the immediate learning environment and
experience. For instance, learning experiences have been found to strongly predict learning behaviours in most EFL
students reviewed studies. However, some studies have found this dimension to be less effective in the Chinese
students’ situation. Indeed, this was the case in a study by Taguchi et al., (2009) as well as Lamb (2012)’s analysis of
Indonesian students.
The objectives of the current study were two-fold, and involved the empirical investigation of: Firstly, the validity of
the L2 Motivational Self system tripartite model as a means of explaining the L2 motivation of a sample of Arab
university level EFL students in southern Saudi Arabia in an actual EFL context (compared to Alshehri’s 2009 study
mixed Saudi EFL ESL sample). Indeed, this study looked at students’ English background which play a paramount role
in shaping and sustaining students’ L2 learning motivation. Secondly, the validity of equating the ideal L2 self with
integrativeness. With these objectives in mind, the following research questions were formulated:
1. Can the Ideal L2 self be equated with integrativeness in the Saudi EFL context?
2. What is the relationship between the three main components of the L2 Motivational Self system and with
learners’ reported efforts to learn English?
3. Which other motivational factors appear to be essential in predicting and explaining variance in L2
motivational behaviour in the Saudi EFL context?
IJALEL 5(5):145-152, 2016 147
3. Method
3.1 Study sampling
The study sample targeted students majoring in English at a southern Saudi Arabian university campus during the 2015
fall semester. All students in their second, third and fourth year were asked to fill in the online questionnaires so as there
was a broadly representative sample. The students were informed that their decision to participate would in no way
affect their grades and that their participation in the study was strictly voluntary. More than 400 male students answered
the questionnaire. The participants were young adults aged between 17 and 24 from various socio-economic
backgrounds with an intermediate proficiency level. All the participants had studied English as a foreign language in
public school for 6 years and then as a major for a period ranging between 2 and 5 years. 397 complete questionnaires
were included in the data coding and analysis process, while incomplete questionnaires or those in which the same
answer had been chosen for every question, were excluded (24 in total).
3.2 Instrument
The study assessed the latent variables in the model by using several six-point Likert type items adapted from recent L2
motivation self-system studies by Dörnyei (2005), Kormos & Csizér, (2005), Dörnyei et al. (2006), Taguchi et al.
(2009), Ryan (2009) and Papi (2010). These latent dimensions proved to be important predictor variables of motivated
learning behaviour and played a key role in explaining the different language-related self-future image. The final
questionnaire comprised six-point Likert type items ranging across 10 motivational scales that could be completed in
approximately 30 minutes. For most of the statements, respondents had to indicate their agreement on a six-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree); in order to provide variety, there were also some yes/no
questions answered on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much). The 10 motivational variables were:
(1) Criterion measure: assesses the learners’ intended efforts toward learning English. For example: I am working
hard at learning English.
(2) Ideal L2 self: attributes to L2-specific facet of one’s ideal self-image. For example: I can imagine myself
living abroad and having a discussion in English.
(3) Ought-to L2 self: measures ‘the attributes that one believes one Ought-to possess (i.e. various duties,
obligations, or responsibilities) in order to avoid possible negative outcomes’. For example: I study English
because close friends of mine think it is important.
(4) Family influence: examines parental encouragement toward learning the language: For example: My
parents encourage me to take every opportunity to use my English.
(5) Instrumentality-promotion: measures the regulation of personal encouragements to becoming successful. For
example: Studying English is important to me
because English proficiency is necessary for promotion in the future.
(6) Instrumentality-prevention: measures the regulation of duties and obligations such as studying English in
order to pass an examination. For example: Studying English is necessary for me because I don’t want to get a
poor score or a fail mark in English proficiency tests.
(7) Attitudes to learning English: measures situation-specific motives
related to the immediate learning environment and experience. For example: I really enjoy learning English.
(8) Attitudes to L2 community: investigates learners’ attitudes toward members of the target language
community. For example: Would you like to know more about people from English-speaking countries?
(9) Cultural interest: measures learners’ interest in the target language’s cultural products, such as TV,
magazines, music and movies. For example: Do you like English films?
(10) Integrativeness: entails having a positive attitude toward the second language, its culture, and the native
speakers of that language. For example: How important do you think learning English is in order to learn more
about the culture and art of its speakers?
4. Procedures
An initial draft of the questionnaire scales was prepared. This was then translated from English to Arabic before being
back-translated by bilingual English-Arabic translation experts at the English department. Several problematic items
were reworded, following which the questionnaire was piloted with 41 undergraduate students at the target university.
The piloting stage data analysis of factors and reliability indicated problems related to the reliability of several scales, as
well as problematic rewording items. Items with a low Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient (≤ 0.6) were
removed and final rewording of a few items was performed. Before administering the questionnaire, it was essential to
obtain permission from the university as well as consent from the students. Once this had been achieved, the
coordinated teachers explained the purpose of the study. Students were told that their participation was voluntary and
that their identity would remain anonymous, as they would be able to complete the electronic questionnaire in their free
time, inside the university or at home. The obtained data were first computer-coded by using SPSS (version 21) for
windows. The Cronbach Alpha internal consistency reliability coefficients were computed (Table 1). The results
indicated that all of the scales had acceptable alpha values in line with the generally accepted standards of social
IJALEL 5(5):145-152, 2016 148
science; that is, above 0.60 (Pallant, 2007). As the list of variables in Table 1 indicates, the cornerstones of Dronie’s
2005 tripartite construct, namely Ideal L2 self, Ought-to L2, and Language learning experience, emerged as distinct
latent dimensions with high reliability coefficients (0.86, 0.84, and 0.81 respectively). Results also brought into focus
learners’ attitudes to L2 community and family influence, as well as learners’ fears, duties and obligations in the future
(instrumentality prevention) toward learning the foreign language; indeed, both were found to be important antecedents
to learning behaviour (0.86, 0.83 and 0.82 respectively). The remaining factors (listed in Table 1) emerged with
acceptable reliability coefficients (above 0.7) and thus were found to play major roles in predicting and explaining the
L2 motivational model in the Saudi context.
Table 1. Composites of attitudinal/motivational variables with Cronbach Alpha coefficients
Factor name No. of items  M SD
Intended learning efforts 6 0.78 4.4 0.99
Ideal L2 self 6 0.86 4.5 1.09
Ought-to L2 self 6 0.84 4.2 1.15
Family influence 6 0.83 4.1 1.04
Instrumentality promotion 5 0.79 4.4 1.05
Instrumentality prevention 6 0.82 4.5 1.04
English learning experiences 6 0.81 4.4 1.05
Cultural interest 4 0.74 4 1.27
Attitudes to L2 community 4 0.86 4.6 1.35
Integrativeness 3 0.83 4.7 1.34
The analysis of the motivational variables, means and standard deviation values for the whole sample revealed high
mean values. This indicates that: a) the participating EFL students are highly motivated to learn English and b) there are
multiple factors affecting their desire to learn that language. Among these scales, Ideal L2 self, attitudes toward L2
community members, Instrumentality (Prevention), and experiences of Learning English and Instrumentality
(Promotion) had the highest mean values. Intended Learning Effort was also among the highest mean scores, which
implies that this sample of Saudi students are willing to ‪exert more ‬effort in learning
English.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
5.1 The relationship between Ideal L2 and integrativeness in the Saudi EFL context
Table 2 shows a remarkably high correlation between the ideal L2 self and integrativeness in the Saudi EFL context.
This correlation suggests that the two concepts tap into the same construct domain and are therefore equal. Table 2
indicates that the Ideal L2 self-achieved a better explanatory power of the variance in the key criterion measure of
learners’ intention to study than integrativeness. These findings support those of previous studies which investigated the
capability of Ideal L2 to re-interpret integrativeness in a broader frame of reference.
Table 2.The relationship between the ideal L2 self and integrativeness

Ideal L2
Integrativeness 0.57
P < 0.001
5.2 The relationship between the L2 Motivational Self system’s three main components
To explore the relationship between the model’s three main components and to compare them with the other
motivational factors investigated in the study correlation and regression tests were conducted. Pearson correlation
analysis was performed to disclose the linear relationships existing between the model factors, and to identify the
strength of these relations. The findings (Table 2) revealed that the Ideal L2 self has the strongest linear relation with
the criterion measure (0.76) which is similar to the results from Pakistani and Japanese EFL learning contexts (Islam et
IJALEL 5(5):145-152, 2016 149
al., 2013; Ryan, 2009) and greater than those found in Chinese and Iranian contexts (Papi, 2010; Taguchi et al., 2009).
Results also revealed a strong relationship between the three components of the L2 Motivational Self System.
Particularly, the correlation between Ideal L2 self and L2 English Learning Experiences (0.64) was stronger than the
Ought-to L2 self’s correlation with each of them (0.53 and 0.55) respectively. The correlation between the English
Learning Experiences and learners’ L2 cultural interest and attitudes to L2 community members was quite high (0.62
and 0.64); indeed, this indicates the strong influence of learners’ sense of emotional identification with the L2
community and their culture on their inclination to study English. The relation of the Ought-to L2 self with the criterion
measure was weaker than that of Ideal L2 self and the English Learning Experiences (0.5, 0.76 & 0.73) respectively,
while its correlation with family influence was much stronger (0.75). Instrumentality (Promotion) had the highest
correlation with Ideal L2 self (0.78). By contrast, Instrumentality (Prevention) had the highest correlation with Ought-to
L2 self (0.74). The correlation between the promotion and prevention dimensions of instrumentality was very low
(0.35).
Table 3. Correlation of Motivational L2 Self system scales
In order to establish which motivational factors act as the best predictor variables when it comes to Saudi EFL learners’
motivated learning behaviour, multiple regression analysis with Stepwise was conducted. The aim of this was to
ascertain which motivational scales contributed most to the L2 motivation of the participants by predicting their
reported learning efforts. Test assumptions of multicollinearity, linearity and normality were verified and the results
indicated that none of these assumptions were violated.
Table 4. Results of the regression analysis of the motivational scales with learning effort and
behaviour as the criterion variable for Saudi EFL learners
Final model
Variable B SE B β
Learning experience .40 .043 .41∗
Ideal L2 self .39 .044 .39∗

Instrumentality-prevention .20 .04 .17**
Cultural Interest .07 .034 .09***
Ought-to L2 .012 .042 .015
R2 .70
F for change in R2 4.4***
∗ p < .001
** p < .01
*** p < .05
Table 4 depicts a model of the four scales, namely English Language Learning experience, Ideal L2 self,
Instrumentality-prevention, and Cultural Interest; indeed, this model shows which are the best predictors of the reported
learning effort variable. The model has a multiple correlation coefficient (R) value of 0.7, which indicates that
approximately 70% of the variance in the students’ reported learning effort variable may be explained by the model.
IJALEL 5(5):145-152, 2016 150
Indeed, according to the standards of research in L2 motivation reported by Dörnyei, (2009, p. 31) this may be
considered a highly respectable value.
The study’s findings present further support for the integrity of Dörnyei’s L2 self-related motivational model, which is
used to assess variances in L2 learners’ motivational behaviours in this era of technological revolution. The L2
Motivational Self system’s core components of Ideal l2, Ought-to L2 and Language learning experiences (presented in
Table 3), were among the four scales which contributed significantly to Saudi EFL learners’ English language reported
learning effort. The findings indicate high significance levels (p < .001) and strong contributions from the Ideal L2 and
Language learning experiences to the learners’ reported efforts in learning English as the criterion measure. Both
components strongly contribute to explaining the variance in the learners’ motivational behaviours (41% and 39%)
respectively. However, the contribution of Language learning experiences is slightly higher than that of Ideal L2 when
it comes to learners’ reported learning efforts. These findings reveal the impact of the Ideal L2 self as well as the
significant impact of learning experience on students’ motivated learning behaviour in the Saudi EFL context; indeed,
the results mirror those from the literature on L2 self system studies in other Asian contexts.
The Ought-to L2 self dimension influence was in contrast with the other two decisions of the L2 motivational self
model. The Ought-to L2 self had a marginal effect as it makes a weak contribution to predicating students’ learning
motivational behaviour (explaining only 0.2 % of the variance in the reported Learning Efforts). This result was in
agreement with similar findings reported in five different Asian EFL contexts: Japan, China, Iran (Taguchi et al., 2009),
Indonesia (Lamb, 2012), and Pakistan (Islam et al., 2013). Indeed, this also underlines the stronger impact of Ought-to
L2 self over that of Ideal L2 self and learning experience dimensions when it comes to shaping L2 learners’
motivational learning behaviours.
The results also indicated a highly significant correlation (0.75) and strong contribution from family encouragement and
learners’ duties and obligations (instrumentally preventions) factors on their Ought-to L2 selves (Table 5). This mirrors
the significant role of family, peers, and friends in the shaping of learners’ futures. This relationship was affirmed by
related studies conducted by Taguchi et al. (2009) in Japan, China, and Iran, in Hungary by Csizér & Kormos (2009)
and in Chile by Kormos et al. (2011). However, the link between the Ought-to L2 self and parental encouragement in
the Saudi context is considerably stronger than in the other Asian countries investigated in the above-mentioned studies.
This may be related to how learners, as well as their families and friends view language learners as language users; it
may also be linked to their highly exam-oriented foreign language system, which may be similar to that used in Japan,
China, Pakistan and Iran.
Table 5.Results of the regression analysis of the motivational scales with the Ought-to L2 self as the
criterion variable for Saudi EFL learners
Final model
Variable B SE B β
Family Influence .813 .055 .663*
Instrumentality Prevention .189 .051 .165*
R2 0 .58
∗ p < .001
The findings also showed a significant correlation between Ideal and Ought-to selves (0.57), which is a vital condition
for maximising their ‘motivational impact’ and inducing learners to make desired efforts to achieve their goals
(Dörnyei, 2009). Indeed, this was also in line with Oyserman et al. (2006)’s argument that Ideal L2 and Ought-to future
selves are not necessarily in opposition to each other. Moreover, the findings revealed a substantial correlation between
the promotional aspect of instrumentality and the Ought-to L2 self among Saudi learners of English (0.53). These
findings were expected, as learners might not yet have developed a self-internalised image of what they really want to
become. Indeed, this is entirely discrete from what they ought to be as an impact of the collective nature of
interpersonal relationships in Saudi society, where learners view themselves as more interdependent than other
members of society. (Heyn, 2013).
5.3 Other motivational variables predicting variance in Saudi EFL learners’ learning behaviour
In addition to the main components of the L2 Motivational Self system, Table 3 indicates that two scales of the model
make a significant contribution to the prediction of the study sample’s reported learning efforts: Cultural Interest, and
the prevention-focussed aspects of instrumentality. Cultural Interest uniquely explained 4.5% of variance in the
dependent variable. The findings indicated that a cultural interest toward products coming from English speaking
communities contributes significantly to positively motivating Saudi EFL learners’ learning efforts. It is also an
indication that learners’ general open-mindedness about various cultures around the world will enhance their
willingness to learn foreign languages (Gardner, 2006). In fact, this finding confirms those from previous studies, which
IJALEL 5(5):145-152, 2016 151
concluded that cultural interest emerges as a significant predictor in the Motivational Self system model in various
learning contexts (e.g. Csizér & Lukács, 2010; Kormos et al., 2011; Papi, 2010; Taguchi et al., 2009).
Instrumentality Prevention scored just less than .05% when it comes to predicting and explaining the variance in the
reported learning efforts. These findings were also present in Taguchi et al. (2009), who investigated the effects the
instrumentally-prevention on students’ motivational behaviour toward learning English as a second language.
6. Conclusion
This study investigated language learning motivation due to its long term impact on students’ success in language
learning (Dörnyei, 2005). Based on the findings, three main conclusions were made. Firstly, our findings corroborate
the underlying tenet of the L2 Motivational Self system that integrativeness can be relabelled as the Ideal L2 self.
Secondly, Ideal L2 is empirically proved to be the most important component of the L2 Motivational Self system model
along with Language learning experience; indeed, both of these explain motivated learning behaviour or initial choice.
Thirdly, the results did not confirm that instrumentality can be divided into two distinct constructs associated with
promotion versus prevention tendencies; this was most likely due to the collective nature of interpersonal relationships
in Saudi society.
The limitations of this study include the fact that the participating ESL students were only from one region of Saudi
Arabia, and therefore a heterogonous population might show different values of those certain scales, such as contact
with L2 community and cultural interest. This type of population might also reveal specific Saudi EFL context factors
that are attributed to the environment. Therefore, future research could examine internal and externals factors that boost
or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioural intention or an ongoing action among language EFL learners in the
Saudi context.
It would also be interesting to explore the use of structural equation modelling to evaluate a motivational model which
subsumes Dornier’s tripartite model (Ideal L2 self, Ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience) as a distinct
individual factor or as a secondary factor contributing to variables that act as mediating factors between motivation and
success.
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The Urban Text of E.T.A. Hoffmann: the Stories “The Golden

Pot”, “The Deserted House” and the Novel
“The Devil's Elixirs”
Larisa Aleksejevna Mishina (Corresponding author)
Russian State Social University,129226, Moscow, V. Pika 4, Russia
Natalia Konstantinovna Shutaya

Elena Yurievna Skorokhodova

Oksana Ivanovna Lytkina

Larisa Nikolaevna Aleshina


Abstract
In this article the urban text of the German romanticist E.T.A. Hoffmann in the stories “The Golden Pot”, “The
Deserted House” and the novel “The Devil's Elixirs” is analyzed. Three types of the city are noted: the real city in the
fantastical environment (Dresden); the real and at the same time mystical city (Berlin); the enlightened city. The images
of the city are studied in the connection with genres of the works. The traits of realism in the late German romanticism
are noted.
Keywords: E. T. A. Hoffmann, urban text, romanticism, palimpsest
1. Introduction
A German romanticist E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) was a person of the urban culture. Hoffmann was born and
educated as a citizen, this situation defined a space of his works and possibly the problem. Many towns and cities
except the native Hoffmann's city, Königsberg, can consider Hoffmann as its citizen: Glogau, Poznan, Plozk, Warsaw,
Bamberg, Dresden, Berlin. The city is an interesting place for the author as an object of description. The events in many
of his works take place in the city. Some towns have a full name, some – only one letter and are marked by a little star;
all are explained in the notes. The types of the readings of Hoffmann's urban text are different.
A city in the Hoffmann's works is multifaced. A city structure is interesting for Hoffmann topografically. But
topography is important for the author only because it's spiritualized – by friend communication, art, psychological
research, mystic. To realize the urban theme Hoffmann uses genres of novel, story, diary.
2. Methods
At present time the traditional conception of a text in the humanities was redefined, a text is considered as a function in
context of the other texts and their interactive dialogue; an isolated text is now considered as an academic phantom.
Hence, there is a variety of concepts that matches this definition; any conceptual entity may be considered as a text: a
text collection, a dictionary, a library, a compositional complex, a genre, a literature, an art, a culture and etc (Lotman,
1981). Even the reality itself may be considered as a text (Nalimov, 2000).
In this article we use the definition of a text as a “complex device, which contains a variety of codes, and is able to
transform incoming messages and generate new ones; as an information generator with traits of an intellectual person”
(Lotman, 2002). A text and culture synthesize a concept of a supertext. A supertext is related to “the same culture
concepts, literature universals, and stereotypes, on the one side realizing intertextual links, defining its position in the
text concept sphere, thus establishing a relation network, points of interaction and intersection with other text, on the
IJALEL 5(5):153-157, 2016 154
same side, they combine, resulting in a constant signary in the text assembly, establishing supertextual links and
actualizing metatextual functions” (Loshakov, 2007).
Works of N.P. Antsiferov (1991), Yu. M. Lotman (2002), and V.N. Toporov (2003) were the first supertextual studies.
They were dedicated to the St. Petersburg urban text in the Russian literature. They were followed by works on Crimean
(Lyusiy, 2003), Italian (Kryukova, 2007), Venetian (Mednis, 1999), Permian (Abashev, 2000), German (Lebedeva,
2002) ones and others.
3. Results
The authors have studied urban texts in the stories “The Golden Pot”, “The Deserted House” and the novel “The
Devil's Elixirs” by E. T. A. Hoffmann. The urban text of any of these works has its unique appearance. In “The Golden
Pot” the real Dresden is depicted, which can be recognized by the names of streets, squares, gates and bridges. Dresden
is connected to the upper world. Hoffmann considers opening of it to a reader his main purpose. “The Deserted House”
is devoted to Berlin, but the author is interested in mysteries, so he shows obscure places and situations alongside with
the places of interest of Berlin. “The Devil's Elixirs” depicts a new for Hoffmann kind of city: a baroque residence city.
The image of the city combines real and ideal traits. The status of a ducal residence as an enlightened town in the scale
of values of Hoffmann is extremely high.
3.1 Dresden in the story “The Golden Pot”by E.T.A. Hoffmann
The story “The Golden Pot” (1814) was written by Hoffmann in Dresden and about Dresden. Hoffmann noted in his
diary: “I am ill and at home — but I successfully began the tale “The Golden Pot” (Gunzel, 1987). The circumstances in
which this work was formated are dramatic – there was a war, one of the episodes of the Napoleon wars. After the
defeat in the Battle of Peoples at Leipzig 16-19. Oct. the Frenchmen didn't give up resistance. Dresden is sieged, it's
hunger in the city, camp fever. In the letter to K.F. Kunz from the 17th November 1813 Hoffmann writes about the
following facts: “...Even during the last week before the capitulation 200 citizen have died, in the hospitals 200-250
died every day, so the corpses mounted at the cemetery in Neustadt...” (Gunzel, 1987).
Nothing from the resonances of this terrible time gets in the novel: the Hoffmann's world as a snail is hidden from a
war, from all the shocks of the reality. Existing within the confines of the Dresden's war space, Hoffmann lives at the
same time in the parallel world – in the same Dresden, where the war is “removed” (Mishina, 2012).
Such Dresden – a city as it is – he makes a scene of action in “The Golden Pot”. The Hoffmann's heroes are mostly
shown on the pleinair, they don't move in the room or within the house but mostly in the city. The actors of the novel
walk along the river, across the bridge or in the garden, go through a gate, along the streets and squares, go to a market
or to a suburb; as far as Dresden isn't a fictional city but real, so all the city names in the work are real: river Elbe, Elbe
bridge, Linkscher Bad, Linkscher Garten, Koselscher Garten, Antongarten, Schwarzes Tor, Seetor, Pirnaer Tor,
Schlosstrasse, Neuer Markt, Neue Stadt, Pirnaer Vorstadt. The key places are Elbe, Elbebrücke. Schwarzes Tor. The
most important events of the novel take place there: a clash of the main hero Anselmus with a witch Lisa at the
Schwarzes Tor, that's a beginning of the action; the first meeting of Anselmus with the envoys of the fantastical world –
the emerald snakes – on the shore of the Elbe; the Elbebrücke is tied with the mystical events such as a visit of Veronica
to the witch Lisa; a disposal of the attributes of the witchcraft (pieces of mirror) and staying of Anselmus in the glass
can.
The most important element of the structure of an European city is a house. Philosophers and cultural historians write
about a special attachment of the Germans to their house. G. Gachev in his work “National images of the worlds”
thinks, even a German word is “like a house”: “As Haus – a vocal closed by consonant walls, Gans, Fritz, Wolfgang,
Traum, Verstand. A word is constructed of the closed syllables” (Gachev, 1998).
G. Gachev compared the German with the Italian, which words consist mostly of the opened syllables, and then
compared a Southern and a Northern way of life and house: “An openness of a life and manners and houses
(colonnades, porticos) – all is in the open air – the opened syllables of the words correspond. In the Northern climate the
people are closed, they close a door and their inner life, where it concentrates as at the fireplace (Gachev, 1998). A
typical German house in the novel is the house of the Conrector Paulmann. A reader knows much about this house: it is
situated in the Pirnaer Vorstadt; the house is peaceful, an order is kept by the daughters of Paulmann Veronica and
Franzchen; the house is welcoming and hospitable. This general image consists as a mosaic panneau of different,
sometimes fugitive notes of the author. By reading about the cabinet, cups and coffee-pot, stove with the creaking
register, about the pretty shuttle of Veronica, it's easy to imagine a hospitable house. Even written by the author about
the house of the Сonrector Paulmann – “engagement at the smoking soup plate” – creates a feeling of coziness.
A cozy house can't be not filled with things. It's known, that Hoffmann, following the Jena romanticists, adheres to an
aesthetics of life, not to an aesthetic of thing. Nevertheless a thoughtful reading of his works makes to find in them also
an aesthetics of thing, succeeded by the writer not only from the Heidelberg romanticists, but also from the German
literature of the XVIII-th century. By acknowledging the expansion of the material world in the Hoffmann's work, F.P.
Fedorov writes: “...At Hoffmann appears a poesy of corporality, way of life...an art leaves the romanticism but doesn't
come to the realism; this art situated in the interval art receives a name Biedermeyer” (Fedorov, 1988). This process
A.V. Mikhailov names “domestication” of the German romanticism (Mikhailov, 1997).
Hoffmann shows precisely a situation of every house, that figurates in the novel: Paulmanns live in the Pirnaer
Vorstadt; Veronica, after marrying registrator Heerbrand, - at the Neuer Markt; a witch Lisa - at the Seetor and an
archivist Lindhorst - in the direction of the Schlossstraße. As it was in the medieval traditions a house isn't
depersonalized, isn't marked just by a number. “Almost every house had its own “face”: a coat of arms over an
entrance, a figure of a saint, Virgin Mary, a lion...The houses were named as: “White deer”, “Black horse”, “Three
IJALEL 5(5):153-157, 2016 155
swans” (“A City in Western Europe Medieval Civilization”, 1999). The houses were recognized by its outer look, or by
a name, or by a specialty of place, where it stood. The address of Lindhorst in “The Golden Pot” is a “far old house”.
There is no information in the novel about only one personage – main actor Anselmus. It's not precisely known, where
his house is situated and what it is. The writer says about it only with words: “small room” and “poor bed”. It's hardly
that Hoffmann wanted to show an income inequality between the participants of his intended action. Most likely that the
writer was guided by the desire to show that the world of the common things, a traditional house isn't for Anselmus – an
authentic coziness and authentic beauty wait for him in the world for the chosen ones, in Atlantis. “Guck in deinen
Topf” (Graf, 1960), says a German proverb that is translated as “Everyone spins his yarn”, and verbatim means “Look
in your own pot”. A direct correlation with the name of the story “The Golden Pot”.
3.2 Berlin in the Hoffmann's story “The Deserted House”
The structure of a medieval city is seen in every urban Hoffmann's story, but there is always an individual action in
these decoration, and this action goes out of the city borders. That's why the story is included in the two circles of
Hoffmann's works - “The Berlin stories” and “The night stories”.
Noting Hoffmann's interest to a city, Honore de Balzac who was also an urbanist named the German writer “Berlin
teller” (Gunzel, 1987). In the Hoffmann's stories “a Shakespeare's gallery of images of the Berlin life is opened. The
names of Berlin squares and streets, drinking houses and bakeries, the names of the bankers and antiquarians constantly
are used...” (Gunzel, 1987). The author brings to a reader a soul of the urban life. There is not only “topography of the
city”, but an order of the urban life, a common image of Citizen in the story. The inner state of the author in this period-
1816-1817-was calm and joyful and it helped Hoffmann to include himself into the urban atmosphere. “...And I could
give a full freedom to my old passion to walk alone along the streets, to stop at every hang picture, at any announce or
to enjoy learning the faces I met and to define the future fate of these people” (Hoffmann, 1992), - this passage from the
story“The Deserted House” is of course autobiographical.
Every personage in the story “The Golden Pot” goes his own directions, has his own way of life. But in the story “The
Deserted House” the image of Citizen is created. Hoffmann knows, when a Berliner walks, visits bakery, in what he is
interested. A Berlin citizen is together with the teller in the two main scenes, when he opens the mysteries of the
“Deserted” house.
A picture of the urban life in the novel “The Deserted House” differs from this picture in “The Golden Pot” by once
more main element: an action takes place not only at open air or in a private house, but in the public house, for example,
in the former bakery of Fuchs, that is situated in the Unter den Linden, 8, near the “ Deserted House”, number 9
(Lagutina, 1992). “The Berlin bakeries in the beginning of the XIX-th century were very important in the urban life, it
was possible not only to eat sweats, to drink a cup of tea or a glass of wine, but to exchange news. Businessmen,
merchants and statesmen visited the definite bakeries, journalists and writers – another bakeries, officers - their
bakeries, aristocratic young men – their bakeries” (Lagutina, 1992). In the Berlin bakeries the teller receives an
information about a supposedly deserted house and met two of its inhabitants – the old valet and the old dog, which
appearance destroys definitively a hypothesis about its uninhabitness of the house.
An opening of the public houses meant an appearance of the new type of a citizen – a man who had to meet and serve
the clients and deal with them. In the novel of Hoffmann this is the salesman, a brother of the bakery master. Although
the author makes no allusion on his look and character an image is full. A hero is put by Hoffmann in such
circumstances that he characterizes himself – later one names this method, offered by G. Flaubert, “indirect feature” and
his manner - “objective style”. The salesman speaks about the strangenesses of the neighboring house, then serves the
“decrepit unsocial manager”, who entered the bakery with a dog, – and we see an attentive to all, accustomed to all sorts
of strangenesses man with an analytic mind, he's also artistically educated, he knew many excellent singers in Italy,
France and Germany” (Hoffmann, 1992). As it is known in the conception of the Jena romanticists and in the aesthetics
of Hoffmann an interest in music is the most important characteristic of a person.
The bakery in the description of Hoffmann looks out rich, it's decorated with the mirrors, in the crystal vases are
candies. At the same time a room is “domesticated”; the writer himself spent many hours of his life in such institutions.
The Hoffmann's phrase “blowing at this time a hot foam from the served to me chocolate” (Hoffmann, 1992) completes
a picture of coziness and comfort. The writer loved “beautiful things in the widest understanding”. His first biographer
Julius Eduard Hitzig writes about it:”Being already sick he dreamed about the structure of his new apartment...he
wanted to decorate one of the rooms with household goods in the old German style on his own taste” (Hitzig, 1988).
Berlin in “The Deserted House” stands farther from the medieval city structure than Dresden in “The Golden Pot”. It
isn't closed in the ring of gates; in the tale only one gate, the Brandenburger Tor are mentioned. There is a wide avenue,
Unter den Linden, in the city center. The houses in Berlin have a numeration. Nevertheless the absence of the “names”
doesn't level a meaning of a house. Hoffmann admiringly tells about fabulous buildings in the main street: here the
wealthy people, the envoys of the “mighty countries” are living, the best hotels are situated; here is a luxury life. The
uglier looks in this row the house, that became an object of learning of the author: “Imagine, Hoffmann writes, a
pinched between the high beautiful buildings low little house with four windows by the side at the gate, that replaced a
door to the house, there was no bell as is the case, even no doorknob” (Hoffmann, 1992).
That is the initial image of the house. There are several of them in the novel. As a suite of rooms appears in the house of
Lindhorst, a suite of events appears in the deserted house. The events that happen in both houses are wider, than the
houses’ physical limits. Nevertheless, “The Golden Pot” describes a hidden upper world in details, which are unlikely
for the Berlin tales. They do not let the reality transform in the fantasy world (The History, 1978). They still have a
IJALEL 5(5):153-157, 2016 156
niche that only a mystical essence can fill. In “The Deserted House” mystical traits of a human soul are such essence.
Hoffmann made them as interesting for his beloved reader, as Atlantis.
3.3 The enlightened residence-town in the novel of E.T.A. Hoffmann “The Devil's Elixirs”
In the novel “The Devil's Elixirs” appears a new kind of city: a baroque residence-town, visited by the main actor of the
novel, monk Medardus, during his dramatic journey (Mishina, 2013). A more deeply than in his previous works social
and geographical characteristic of a town is possibly tied to the changes of the literature method of the writer. The
approaches of the late German romanticists to the realistic conception are noted by the researches. A discovering of the
reality by the German artists of the 1810-1820-s F.P. Fedorov considers as a “discovering of a power of the reality over
a man” (Fedorov, 1988). V. Mikushevich notes an “eccentric but fully motivated” realism in “The Devil's Elixirs”
(Mikushevich, 1993).
Duchies were one of the components in the disjointed Germany of the XVIII-th century. The duke residence becomes
almost the main point in the travel of Medardus. Here the very important events take place, the deep layers of the very
involved family history of the main character are opened. The observations of Medardus and also narratives of the
keeper of the duke's painting gallery are filled with facts and reasonings. To a certain extent this material lays off the
artistic structure of the novel – here are the political, economical, organizational and moral sides of the court life so
fully depicted that the handwriting of Hoffmann lawyer, analytic is seen.
The life in the duchy is so well thought-out and variable that one can name the residence a place of enlightenment.
According fully to the enlightenment conception a monarch plays the ruling role in the development of the sciences, arts
and refinement of manners. A duke guides the town and residence life. His subjects note a constant change of duke's
interests. His interests in architecture and gardening, then in theater, music and painting, all having a practical result are
showed in the novel from two positions: on one opinion it's absence of the superficiality and soul depth; on other
opinion - “exclusive soul moving” (Hoffmann, 1992).
The author, however, is not interested in others’ opinions of the duke. Hoffmann values such kind of a personality: an
open-minded, educated monarch, a sponsor of arts. Such person was not a representation of romanticists’ ideas of art
and an artist as transformative powers of society, but was a protector of art in the divided Germany; we may recall Karl
August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in this regard, his name is tied with the Weimar period of Goethes
work.
Soon Medardus had to leave the residence. The description of life in the duchy and Medardus’ presence is pointed at
both starting and ending chapters of the novel, like two-faced Janus. It is the place, where mysteries are revealed and the
further development of the mysterious family history, skillfully implemented in the history of Germany of the XVIII-th
century, starts (Mishina, 2014).
4. Discussion
There are some discussion questions in this theme. The first is connected with literary method of Hoffmann and other
German late romantics. It’s interesting to research the traits of realism in this method and co-existence with romantic
method. The second is proportion of geography and literature in the process of researching of such theme as the urban
text.
5. Conclusion
The urban text by Hoffmann is a palimpsest. The initial text is a medieval structure of every described by Hoffmann
cities. Individual features of city – unique buildings, traditions, local freaks – lay upon this structure. There is a third
text in the stories: the author describes the upper world invisible for normal people, but topographically precisely
known for Hoffmann. The main Hoffmann's goal – to include a reader into the “upper world”.
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Malaysian Tertiary Level ESL Students’ Perceptions toward

Teacher Feedback, Peer Feedback and
Self-assessment in their Writing
Kayatri Vasu
English Language Department, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Chai Hui Ling

Vahid Nimehchisalem (Corresponding author)


Abstract
In Malaysia, teacher feedback is highly preferred by students, who often believe that teachers know best. Teacher
feedback shows them their teacher’s idea of an ideal writing. However, excessive dependence on teachers adds to their
workload. Therefore, teachers are increasingly promoting two other alternative methods that are gradually gaining
importance. These methods are peer feedback and self-assessment. This study investigates ESL students’ perceptions
toward teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment in students’ writing process. Questionnaires, adapted from
the instruments in the literature, were administered to 107 randomly selected students in a private local university in
Malaysia. Students found feedback given to the content and organization of their writing more useful than feedback
provided for their vocabulary and grammar. It was also found that students perceived feedback from teacher, peers and
self-assessment all as highly useful. Additionally the results indicated while there was no significant difference (p > .05)
between the students’ perceptions toward teacher feedback and self-assessment, they were both perceived as
significantly more useful (p < .001) than peer feedback. The students also perceived explicit feedback as significantly
more useful (p < .001) than implicit feedback. The results of this study have implications for English language learning-
teaching practitioners and researchers. They shed light on the options preferred by students in revising their writing in
ESL writing classrooms. Future research on the effects of teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment on
students’ writing performance will provide better insight on the preferred methods in ESL writing classrooms in similar
settings.
Keywords: English as a Second Language, Writing; Teacher Feedback; Peer Feedback; Self-Assessment; Students’
Perceptions
1. Introduction
Teaching writing is given due importance as the other language skills in the Malaysian ESL undergraduate classrooms.
Acknowledging the importance of teaching writing, teachers actively implement different strategies that promote
performance in writing (Razali & Jupri, 2014). Among the widely used strategies in the ESL writing classrooms is
teacher feedback. There are three types of teachers’ feedback in ESL writing, namely form-focused feedback, content
based feedback and integrated feedback (Park, 2006). Peer feedback and self-assessment are two strategies that are now
gaining importance in both literature as well as practice. These alternative strategies are now actively implemented by
teachers in their classrooms to assist their ESL writing teaching and learning processes. Consequently, students are now
becoming familiar with these alternative strategies which assist them to learn ESL writing more effectively.
1.1 Problem Statement
Teacher feedback is viewed essential in the Malaysian ESL classroom especially at the tertiary level. This is due to the
notion that teachers know best and students would want to produce an outcome that closely resembles the teacher’s idea
of an ideal piece of writing. The classrooms at the undergraduate level are often so sizeable that providing feedback can
be a daunting task for the teachers. Other than that, students are expected to master many aspects of writing in a short
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 159
period of time. Students receive one and a half hours of instruction weekly and an hour of practice during the 14 weeks
of a semester. According to Husin and Ariffin (2008), peer feedback is frequently used in the Malaysian classrooms.
However, it is not preferred as much as teachers’ feedback. This is because Malaysian students have hesitance in
completely trusting the feedback given by peers rather than teachers. They feel that it is the job of the teacher to provide
feedback and at the same time students feel that they do not possess the linguistic competence to give feedback to their
peers’ works (Husin & Ariffin, 2008). This research will offer a perspective on other types of feedback that may offer
great help to both teachers and students in assessing writing. Besides teacher and peer feedback, self-assessment has
started gaining importance, too. Self-assessment gives the opportunity to students to assess their own work with some
assistance in the form of rubrics, questionnaires or checklists. Considering the importance of knowing how students’
writing will be graded, this research gives an insight into how self-assessment can assist in helping students to have a
better understanding and view of a good piece of writing from the perspective of the teacher. Research in the area of
feedback has been extensive but still inconclusive. Seeing how exhausting marking essays would be and the possibility
of overlooking some mistakes, this research offers an in depth discussion on teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-
assessment and perhaps offer an alternative to teachers in implementing it to ease their work.
1.2 Teacher Feedback
There have been many studies that investigated students’ perception and preference on teacher feedback in different
contexts. This is an area that has been constantly of scholars’ interest and there have been conflicting findings on the
usefulness as well as effectiveness of teachers’ feedback in ESL writing instructions. There are several scholars who
argued that feedback is not helpful in the writing classrooms; for example, Radecki, Swales (1988) and Truscott (1996)
asserted that grammar correction should be abandoned as it has no place in writing courses. One of the areas to which
particular attention has been paid is the effect of grammar feedback on learners’ ESL writing performance. Although
there have been conflicting results on the importance of grammar feedback in the ESL writing classroom, many writing
teachers from different contexts still tend to give feedback for different aspects of writing, such as grammar, content,
organization, and vocabulary in their classrooms. As teachers believe in feedback and continuing it in the instruction, so
do students expect to receive feedback for their written work and also believe that feedback benefits them in their
writing (Hyland, 1998). In form-focused feedback the grammatical errors are highlighted. This type of feedback is
regarded as harmful as it consumes so much of time and energy that it diverts and minimizes the more productive aspect
of a writing program (Truscott, 1996). However, Leki (1991) studied university students’ reaction towards teacher
feedback and found that since having writing free of error was students’ major consent, they preferred error correction
by the teachers. Studies conducted by Saito (1994) and Zhang (1995) showed that students valued teachers’ feedback
the most in comparison to other alternatives like oral feedback and peer feedback. In a study conducted by Yang,
Badger and Yu (2006), a huge percentage of students adopted teacher feedback with reasons that teachers are more
‘professional’, ‘experienced’ and ‘trustworthy’. While students prefer teacher feedback, teacher-influenced revisions
happen at surface level. Student writers always have preference towards teachers’ written feedback because they believe
that it is necessary for them to improve in their writing (Ferris & Roberts, 2011; Ferris, 2004). In another study where
students were taught step by step in mastering writing subskills, it was found that direct teacher feedback strategy
helped to improve their performance in writing (Elshirbini & Elashri, 2013). It was also asserted that with different
types of feedback provided, students’ writing will improve tremendously. Regardless of the method of feedback
provided to students, Gulley (2012) found that students improved their writing. Teachers are viewed as a role model
who guides them throughout the writing process. Feedback from them are depended heavily upon and this puts them
under a great deal of pressure, other than having to juggle other work.
1.3 Peer Feedback
Research done on peer feedback has slowly gained popularity. Implementation of peer feedback in writing classrooms
is not a new phenomenon. However, students need more guidance in giving feedback to their peers as some feel
uncomfortable judging their peer’s work and some are lack of knowledge on how to go about it (Cheng & Warren,
2005). Teachers should make it clear to students that giving peer feedback is a way to get students to be more actively
involved in the learning process, rather than substituting a teacher’s task. Several researches conducted have shed
positive light on peer feedback in the writing process. A study conducted by Peng (2010) showed that students had no
experience prior to the study; nevertheless, they held positive attitudes and perception towards the peer feedback
exercises. Also, a study by Williams (1992) revealed that most of the students perceived peer assessment as useful and
interesting. In another study which explored students’ perceptions of integrating wiki technology and peer feedback
(Lin & Yang, 2011), it was found that students could easily understand why they committed grammatical mistakes after
being pointed out by their peers. Also, one student felt that employing peer feedback in assessing writing goes beyond
the traditional paper and pencil way of learning and there is a sense of achievement. Salih (2013) found that student
writers emphasize grammar as the main aspect that peer reviewers should focus on; instead, peer reviewers focused on
clarity of feedback. This shows that student writers should go beyond grammar focus and focus on other aspects that
work together in the creation of a piece of good writing. It shows that teachers are slowly integrating peer feedback as a
form of exercise for students in assessing writing. Some studies, on the other hand, pose different perspectives on peer
feedback in writing. Insufficient confidence in assessing their peers’ papers was also found in a study conducted by
Cheng and Warren (2005). Following that, some students were not satisfied with the quality and quality of feedback
provided by their peers (Xiao & Lucking, 2008). It is essential to implement peer feedback strategy in the classroom for
it to be successful despite the potential challenges that come with it (Paulus, 1999). One of the possible reasons behind
these inconsistent results could be the learners’ cultural differences. As reported by Mukundan and Nimehchisalem
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 160
(2011), peer review did not prove significantly effective on their students’ narratives which could be because students
from a similar cultural background are more inclined towards establishing harmony among one another than to criticize
each other’s work. As such, in order to efficiently implement peer feedback in classroom, teachers should discuss the
method thoroughly with the students. On part of the students, they should be informed that peer feedback is an effective
method to review each other’s work as they may have reservations when consulting their teachers.
1.4 Self-assessment
Growing interest in self-assessment as a non-traditional form of assessment has taken place in ESL classrooms (Moritz,
1996). Dragemark-Oscarson (2009) asserted that propagating the capability of self-assessment is crucial as an
educational objective as students ought to have the ability to assess their results and to relate them to their learning
condition. Independent and lifelong learning has been the main objective advocated in many institutions of higher
education as it is viewed to be able to enhance academic achievement as well as the quality of the graduates. As a result
of this, the focus has changed from teacher centered education to student centered education. This is no different in the
context of L2 teaching and learning. Based on the constructivist learning theory, learners are viewed as having great
potential to develop. The position of this theory is totally opposite to that of the behaviorist theory which treats learners
as passive participants with the need to be stimulated by the environment. The paradigm shift from the behaviorist
theory to constructivist theory has affected instructional practices in the L2 classrooms. Self-assessment is viewed to be
a promising strategy in creating independent learners who constantly assess themselves to progress in their learning.
Other than that, the shift from summative to formative assessment in education has also placed a strong emphasis on the
implementation of self-assessment in ESL writing classrooms. Self-assessment in the writing classroom enhances
students’ writing performance by encouraging reflection and meta-cognition in the writing process (Nielsen, 2014). In a
study conducted by Singh and Terry (2008), it was found that self-assessment encouraged students to review their
assignment critically and to improve them. Both teachers and students have positive perception towards self-assessment
and view it as a skill that is transferable and is one that underlies a lifelong learning skill in other areas (Dragemark-
Oscarson, 2009). It is also found that self-assessment skills help students to improve their writing skills as well as their
subsequent writing practices (Belachew, Getinet, & Gashaye, 2015). In a study conducted by Honsa (2013), it was
found that self-assessment promotes learner autonomy and the students realized that they could develop self-regulated
collaborated learning skills. Also, as a result of self-assessment, students developed five learning strategies that would
help them in revising their writing. As the purpose of self-assessment is to promote learner autonomy in revising their
writing, students become independent writers and are capable of improving their writing on their own to a certain
degree. In another study, with remarkable implications for educational practice, it was found that improving self-
assessment and task-selection skills can significantly increase the amount of knowledge that students gain from self-
regulated learning where learners can choose their learning tasks (Kostons, Gog, & Paas, 2011). Teaching self-regulated
learning skills gives learners a sense of control and encourages them to focus on their methods of learning. This is
confirmed by Mahmoodi, Kalantari and Ghaslani’s (2014) who reported cognitive and metacognitive strategies were
preferred by Iranian EFL learners. Therefore, combining self-assessment and the traditional method like teacher
feedback in the ESL writing classrooms will not only help to lessen the burden of teachers but help students become
independent learners who develop the capacity to take charge of their learning at every stage. On the other hand, there
are also negative views from students pertaining the practice of self-assessment in ESL writing classrooms. Even
though students may learn markedly by assessing their own written works, some may become frustrated in the process.
In such cases, the role of the teacher is very crucial in guiding the students. Assessment is usually regarded as the task
of teachers. In the Malaysian context, there have been unfavorable results as teachers are not exposed to self-assessment
method in classroom. They may not be aware of the potential of using self-assessment method as their teaching tend to
be very teacher-centered (Majid, 2007). Some students may think that it is unfair to ask them to share the burden of
having to do teachers’ work (Ross, Rolheiser, & Hogaboam-Gray, 1998). Despite the shortcomings, it may greatly
benefit both teachers and students as they will know what should be in an essay and what constitutes a good piece of
writing.
1.5 Research Question
Understanding the perception of students towards these various strategies especially at the tertiary level is important
since it can help their effective implementation. Therefore, this study investigated students’ perception towards the
usefulness of teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment. The following research questions were posed to
address this objective:
1. What is the students’ perception towards teacher feedback provided to different features (grammar,
vocabulary, content and organization) of their written work?
2. What are the students’ perceptions on the combinations of the different types of feedback (teacher
feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment)?
3. Is there a significant difference between the students’ perception on teacher feedback, peer feedback
and self-assessment?
4. Is there a significant difference between the students’ perceptions towards explicit and implicit
teacher feedback?
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2. Method
The study had a cross-sectional design. Survey method was followed to collect the data. A questionnaire was
developed, validated and administered to the students who responded to its items based on their perceptions. The data
elicited from the respondents were analyzed quantitatively.
2.1 Participants
The respondents of this study comprised 107 undergraduate students in a private Malaysian university, namely
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. UTAR is a private university which was established in 2002. The university offers
166 programs in various fields like Accountancy, Actuarial Science, Agriculture, Arts, Business and Economics,
Creative Industries and Design, Engineering and Built Environment, Information and Communication Technology, Life
and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Process Management, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Social Science and
Education. The university has two campuses in Bandar Sungai Long and Kampar. This study was conducted in the
Bandar Sungai Long Campus. Almost 95 percent of the students who participated in this study were Chinese, learning
English as a second language. The remaining 5 percent were Malay and Indian. Ages of the participants ranged from 20
to 23 years old. They were all bachelor degree students at the Faculty of Accounting and Management. The participants
had completed one to more than three English papers within one to three academic years prior to the current semester.
Therefore, they have ample exposure to teachers’ feedback, self-assessment and peer assessment strategies. The main
objective of the English courses offered is to improve students writing skills for specific purposes like business writing,
argumentative and report writing. The courses do emphasize on other skills like listening and speaking, but attention is
majorly given to writing. The participants had been exposed to teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment
which are studied in the current research.
2.2 Instrument
This study was conducted by using the survey research method. A new instrument (Appendix C) was adapted in
reference to Jacobs, Curtis, Braine, and Huang (1998), Zhang (1995) and Yang, Badger, and Yu (2006). These
instruments elicit general information on perceptions towards teacher feedback and peer feedback. The instrument of
this study is a more detailed questionnaire with items that elicit detailed information on the perception of students on the
usefulness of teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment in the writing classroom. Jacob, Curtis, Briane, and
Huang’s (1998) instrument is a one-item questionnaire that consists of two options for the participants to choose from.
On the other hand, Zhang’s (1995) instrument has two simple questions eliciting information on preference between
teacher feedback, non-teacher feedback, peer feedback, and self-directed feedback. Yang, Badger, and Yu’s (2006)
instrument itself is adapted from Jacobs, Curtis, Braine, and Huang (1998) and Zhang (1995). However, more items are
added and the items have multiple choices. All the above mentioned instruments focus on teacher feedback and peer
feedback only whereas the current research instrument has items covering the perception of students on self-assessment
strategy in writing classroom.
Our instrument consisted of 30 five-point Likert scale items including never, rarely, sometimes, often and always, as
well as three multiple choice items, and three open ended items (Appendix). The questionnaire had a section on the
respondents’ demographic information followed by a second section eliciting perception of students towards the
usefulness of teacher feedback, peer feedback, and self-assessment. A total of 10 five-point Likert scale items covered
the perception of students on teacher feedback focusing on different features of writing, namely content, organization,
vocabulary, and grammar. The questionnaire also covered information on explicit and implicit teacher error feedback.
Jacobs, Curtis, Braine, and Huang (1998) and Zhang’s (1995) instruments did not cover the feedback provided on the
features of writing whereas Yang, Badger, and Yu (2006) covered these questions in the interview prompts but not the
questionnaire. There were also 6 other items eliciting information on peer feedback. The items covered the preference
of peer feedback generally and the different types of peer feedback experienced by students. Additionally, 7 more items
were added to this instrument to obtain information on the preference of students towards self-assessment. A close
review of the literature in the area of self-assessment confirms ample number of strategies in implementing self-
assessment effectively in the ESL writing classroom. In the current instrument, only the strategies that are practiced in
the current research context were included. This was to ensure that the items included in the questionnaire were relevant
to the sample of the study. Among the strategies were using a self-assessment checklist, training learners on self-
assessment, and reviewing a written model (Andrade & Valtcheva, 2009). All these strategies were implemented in this
research context throughout the study in the institution. Finally, the questionnaire ended with 7 more items that would
elicit information on the perception of students towards receiving one type of feedback only or different combinations
of feedback.
In order to ensure the construct and content validity of the new instrument, it was sent to a panel of experts after a few
rounds of drafting and revising by the research team. The experts suggested rewording some of the items to improve the
clarity and readability. Some additional items were added related to features of writing as recommended by the experts.
For example, initially, items on features of writing were only limited to grammar, content and organization. Two other
items, including “It helps when my teacher only highlights my vocabulary errors” and “It helps when my teacher
corrects my vocabulary errors,” were added as it was suggested that vocabulary is an important feature of writing that is
covered in the current context.
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All three experts’ comments were considered and changes were made per their suggestions. Finally, all experts agreed
that items were well designed and the questionnaire measured relevant and important points pertaining teacher explicit
and implicit feedback, peer feedback strategies, self-assessment strategies and perception on different combinations of
feedback strategies. After the validation process, the instrument was administered to 10 students and no further
modifications were made as the students confirmed that the items were clear and readable. The internal reliability of this
questionnaire was 0.816.2.3 Data Analysis Methods
IBM SPSS (Version 21) was used to analyze the data. To answer the first two research questions, descriptive statistical
method including frequency and percentage were used. In order to answer the third and fourth research questions, both
descriptive and inferential methods, including repeated measures ANOVA and paired samples t-test were used,
respectively.
3. Results
The normality of distribution of the data was verified before they were analyzed using inferential statistical methods.
This section presents and discusses the results based on the research questions.
3.1 Perceptions toward Teacher Feedback
The first research question investigated the students’ perceptions toward teacher feedback provided to different features
(grammar, vocabulary, content and organization) of their written works. The values of the related items were first added
and then transformed into three categories of low (never & rarely), moderate (sometimes), and high (usually & always)
in order to find out how the students perceived the feedback given to different features of their writing by their teachers.
Overall, majority of the students perceived teacher feedback directed at all four writing features as highly important
(Table 1).
Table 1. Perceptions towards teacher feedback and different features of writing (n = 107)
Writing Features Perception
Low Moderate High
Freq. % Freq. % Freq. %
Vocabulary 18 16.5 25 23.4 64 59.8
Grammar 19 17.8 27 25.2 61 57
Content 3 2.8 16 15 88 82.2
Organization 10 9.3 17 15.9 80 74.8
As illustrated in Table 1, the percentage of the studentswho perceived feedback provided for the content (82.2%) and
organization (74.8%) of their written work as highly useful, was considerably higher than those who rated lexical
(59.8%) and grammatical (57%) feedback as highly useful. This indicates that most students preferred meaning directed
to form directed feedback. The same pattern can be observed by considering the percentage of the students who
believed that teacher feedback provided for different dimensions of their writing was not really helpful. Very few
students thought that feedback directed at the content (2.8%) or organization (9.3%) of their writing was not useful
whereas the percentage was interestingly several times higher for students who did not find grammatical (19%) and
vocabulary feedback (18%) useful.
This is in line with Ferris (1995) who provided research evidence that students prefer to receive comments not only
pertaining to the grammar of their writing but to its content as well. This also confirms the evidence provided in other
researches in which students would always wish to get feedback on features other than grammar like content and
organization (Hedgcock & Letkowitz, 1994). This supports the current pedagogical trend where meaning-focused
instruction should be given due importance in order for students to gain grammatical competence naturally. Krashen
(1981, 1994) asserts that the two necessary conditions needed for successful second language acquisition which are
comprehensible input and low affective filter can only be achieved by meaning-focused instruction. Therefore, it is
necessary for teachers to give equivalent importance to the content and organization of writing in providing feedback.
Teachers in the current research context tend to emphasize more on grammatical accuracy of writing than meaning.
With equivalent focus on all elements of writing which is in line with the findings of this study, better student writers
will be produced by avoiding any mismatch between student preference and classroom instruction. Many researchers
acknowledge that meaning-focused instruction should be complemented with form-focused instruction for second
language acquisition (Lightbown, 1992; Long, 1991).
3.2 Perceptions on the Combinations of the Different Types of Feedback
The second research question investigated the students’ perception on the combinations of the different types of
feedback (teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment). The values of the related items were first added and
then transformed into three categories of low (never & rarely), moderate (sometimes), and high (usually & always) in
order to find out the students’ perceptions on the combinations of the different types of feedback. Overall, majority of
the students perceived teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment as highly important (Table 2).
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 163
Table 2. Perceptions towards combinations of the different types of feedback (n = 107)
Feedback Categories Perception
Low Moderate High
Freq. % Freq. % Freq. %
Teacher and Peer Feedback 1 .9 27 25.2 79 73.8
Teacher Feedback and Self- 5 4.7 25 23.4 77 72
assessment
Peer Feedback and Self- 9 8.4 33 30.8 65 60.7
assessment
Teacher Feedback, Peer 4 3.7 21 19.6 82 76.6
Feedback and Self-assessment
As illustrated in Table 2, the percentage of the students, who perceived teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-
assessment (76.6%) as well as teacher and peer feedback (73.8%) as highly useful, was considerably higher than that of
those who regarded teacher feedback and self-assessment (72%) and peer feedback and self-assessment (60.7%) as very
useful. This indicates that most students preferred a combination of all three strategies. The same pattern could be
observed by considering the percentage of the students who perceived combinations of the different types of feedback
were not really helpful. Very few students thought that teacher and peer feedback (0.9%) or teacher feedback, peer
feedback and self-assessment (3.7%) was not useful whereas the percentage was several times higher for students who
did not find teacher feedback and self-assessment alone (4.7%) or peer feedback and self-assessment alone (8.4%)
useful.
This finding is similar to a study conducted by Leki (1991) in which university students’ reactions towards teacher
feedback were studied. Leki found that having writing free of error was the major objective of the students, who
preferred error correction by the teachers. Our results are also consistent with a study by Williams (1992) who revealed
that most of the students perceived peer assessment as helpful and engaging. Combining teacher feedback, peer
feedback, and self-assessment is definitely an area that needs further exploration to implement different stages of
feedback on the progress of an individual writer (Singh & Terry, 2008). A study conducted by Matsuno (2009) by
utilizing the Multifaceted Rasch Measurement revealed that peer assessment is a possible option to compensate the bias
or short-comings that happen in teacher assessment. Therefore, it is suggested that the combination of teacher
assessment and peer assessment is encouraged in the writing classroom which is partially in line with the preference of
students in this study. Other than that, the implementation of self-assessment and peer assessment is also in line with the
core principle of constructivism; students are expected to be fully engaged in their own learning with the support of
their peers and their teachers’ facilitation (Vygotsky, 1980).
3.3 Difference between Students’ Perceptions toward Teacher Feedback, Peer Feedback and Self-Assessment
The repeated measures ANOVA output (Table 3) showed that the differences among the students’ perceptions towards
teacher feedback (M = 3.66, SD = 0.53), peer feedback (M = 3.03, SD = 0.60), and self-assessment (M = 3.78, SD =
0.75) were statistically significant, F(1.58, 167.45) = 42.81, p = .000, indicating large estimates of effect size (η2 =
.288).
Table 3. Tests of Within-Subjects Effects for Students’ Perceptions toward Teacher Feedback, Peer Feedback
and Self-Assessment (n = 107)
Type III Sum Mean Partial Eta
Source of Squares df Square F Sig. Squared
factor1 Sphericity Assumed 35.033 2 17.517 42.806 .000 .288
Greenhouse-Geisser 35.033 1.580 22.176 42.806 .000 .288
Huynh-Feldt 35.033 1.600 21.901 42.806 .000 .288
Lower-bound 35.033 1.000 35.033 42.806 .000 .288
Error(factor1) Sphericity Assumed 86.752 212 .409
Greenhouse-Geisser 86.752 167.455 .518
Huynh-Feldt 86.752 169.561 .512
Lower-bound 86.752 106.000 .818
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Based on the results of pairwise comparisons (Table 4), there were no significant differences between students’
perceptions towards teacher feedback and self-assessment, t(106) = 1.52, p > .05, 95% CI[-.03, .28].
Table 4. Pairwise Comparisons for Students’ Perceptions toward Teacher Feedback, Peer Feedback and Self-
Assessment (n = 107)
95% Confidence Interval
for Differencea
Mean
Difference Lower Upper
(I) factor1 (J) factor1 (I-J) T Sig.a Bound Bound
Teacher feedback Peer feedback .631 9.03 .000 .492 .769
Self-assessment -.123 1.52 .131 -.284 .038
Peer feedback Teacher feedback -.631 9.03 .000 -.769 -.492
Self-assessment -.754 7.04 .000 -.967 -.542
Self-assessment Teacher feedback .123 1.52 .131 -.038 .284
Peer feedback .754 7.04 .000 .542 .967
a. Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Least Significant Difference (equivalent to no adjustments).
However, there was a statistically significant difference between their perceptions towards self-assessment and peer
feedback, t(106) = 7.04, p < .001, 95% CI[-.97, -.54], as well as teacher feedback and peer feedback, t(106) = 9.03, p <
.001, 95% CI[.49, .77].
This confirms some research evidence in the literature that shows students value peer feedback in their classroom but
they still prefer teacher feedback over peer feedback (Jacobs et al., 1998). It is also consistent with the findings of a
study by Nelsen and Carson (1998), according to which students preferred teacher feedback to peer feedback.
Table 5. Difference between Students’ Perceptions toward Explicit and Implicit Teacher Feedback
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Std. Std. Error Difference
Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df p
-1.56075 2.49595 .24129 -2.03913 -1.08236 -6.468 106 .000
The results of a paired samples t-test indicated that the difference between the students’ perceptions towards explicit (M
= 15.42, SD = 2.26) and implicit teacher feedback (M = 13.86, SD = 2.85) was statistically significant, t(106) = 6.47, p
= .000, 95% CI[2.04, 1.08]. This provided evidence for the fact that students preferred explicit to implicit teacher
feedback.
This finding is consistent with the study done by Lee (2008) that has provided research evidence that students prefer
explicit error feedback irrespective of their proficiency level. This supports Hedgcock and Letkowitz (1996) and Leki’s
(1991) findings claiming that ESL students appreciate form-focused feedback as they learn the correct forms when the
teachers highlight and correct the grammatical errors; that is, when they provide explicit teacher feedback. According to
behaviorists (Skinner, 1969), errors should be explicitly and immediately corrected; otherwise, they will turn into bad
habits and hinder students learning the language system. Adult second language learners’ mechanism is different from
children’s acquisition of their L1 which solely depends on positive evidence (Felix, 1985; Schachter, 1988) that helps
them focus on the targeted feature of the language incidentally. Therefore, adult learners need negative evidence,
preemptively or reactively for acquisition of certain linguistic features. Based on this ground, it can be argued that form-
focused explicit teacher feedback is essential for adult learners to attain higher performance in the ESL writing
classroom.
4. Conclusion
The results indicate that the student writers perceived teacher feedback, self-assessment as well as peer feedback as
highly useful. Interestingly, the students had positive perception toward self-assessment, which is a relatively new
method introduced in the writing classrooms. Peer feedback, although highly valued, turned out to be the least preferred
in this context despite the current pedagogical trend that focuses more on students’ active participation in improving
their peers’ writing than being dependent on teachers’ feedback. The students also perceived feedback provided for
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 165
content and organization of their writing more useful compared with feedback related to vocabulary and grammar
which are commonly overemphasized in the current writing classroom context. Based on the findings of the present
study, it seems logical to conclude that teachers should primarily focus on the content and organization of their
students’ writing while providing feedback in the future. Additionally, it was found that the students preferred explicit
teacher feedback to implicit teacher feedback.
The results of this study have implications for English language learning-teaching practitioners and researchers. They
shed light on the options preferred by students in revising their writing in ESL writing classrooms. With this, teachers
will be able to implement the strategies preferred by students in the classroom and avoid any mismatch between the
preference of students and classroom instruction. Such mismatches lead to students’ dissatisfaction, decrease students’
motivation and eventually affect their learning negatively (Brown, 2009; Schulz, 2001). Fulfilling the students’ need
with their preferred method will directly enhance the teaching and learning environment of the classroom that can
eventually promote learners’ performance. This positive classroom environment will motivate both the teacher and the
students to perform better.
The findings also have implications for researchers in the area of ESL writing. In recent years the role of teacher and
peer feedback is rather over-emphasized. The results of this study clearly indicate ESL learners highly value the ability
to assess their own performance and progress in ESL writing. Research has shown promising effects of self-assessment
on language learning. International educational programs, such as the European Language Portfolio (ELP), have
provided evidence on the positive effect of self-assessment on learner autonomy (Little, 2012). Learner autonomy is a
key variable in determining learners’ achievement. Learners that are more likely to take charge of their own learning are
better at setting their learning objectives, selecting the learning methods and strategies, monitoring their own learning
progress, and evaluating what they have learned (Holec, 1981). Little (2012) states that “the ability to manage one’s
own learning is not necessarily inborn: it is the teacher’s job to support the transition from nonautonomous to
autonomous learning by helping learners to develop their capacity for self-management” (pp. 12-13). Kohonen (2012)
mentions self-assessment, among other empowering and useful pedagogical tools, such as learning plans, logs and
diaries, language portfolios, teacher conferencing as well as peer support, can create autonomy in learners. Clearly self-
assessment provides a broad avenue of research particularly within the educational context of Malaysia where teachers
are often expected to be accountable for their learners learning. Future research should focus on obtaining qualitative
data from the students through interviews and classroom observations about their perception and teachers’ perception
on the different strategies used in teaching and learning ESL writing. The effects of teacher feedback, peer feedback and
self-assessment on students writing performance should also be studied as it will provide better insight on the methods
that should be given preference in the Malaysian ESL writing classrooms.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the experts, who helped them validate the instrument, and the students, who
participated in this study, making this research possible.
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class. Journal of second language writing, 15(3), 179-200.
Zhang, S. (1995). Reexamining the affective advantage of peer feedback in the ESL writing class. Journal of second
language writing, 4(3), 209-222.
APPENDIX A
QUESTIONNAIRE OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARD THE USEFULNESS OF TEACHER

FEEDBACK, PEER FEEDBACK, AND SELF-ASSESSMENT
COVER LETTER
Dear Respondent,
Subject: Request for Participation in a Research Project
You are cordially requested to participate in a study on ESL Students’ Perception towards Teacher Feedback, Peer
Feedback and Self-Assessment in the Writing Process.
The questionnaire consists of 7 pages and it may take 15 to 25 minutes to answer. Any data collected from you will be
treated in strict confidence. The information you provide will be used only for research purpose. All personal
identification will be kept strictly confidential and no one will be censured for negative reviews.
If you agree, kindly complete the following consent form.
I highly appreciate your support.
Yours sincerely,
[The names of the researchers]

[Affiliation of the research team]
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 168
APPENDIX B
CONSENT FORM
I hereby consent to participate in your research project entitled “ESL Students’ Perception towards Teacher Feedback,
Peer Feedback and Self-Assessment in the Writing Process” and allow you to use the data for the purpose of research.
Name _________________________________
Phone no _________________________________
E-mail _________________________________
Signature:_________________________ Date:________________________
APPENDIX C
SECTION 1: PERSONAL INFORMATION

Instructions: The purpose of this questionnaire is to improve the teaching of writing. The aim is not to evaluate the
lecturers. Please do not sign your name. All responses are anonymous.
1) Program: __________________________
2) Number of English language subjects taken thus far:

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) More than 3
3) Your English language proficiency level:

a) Elementary
b) Lower intermediate
c) Intermediate
d) Upper intermediate
e) Advanced
4) Your English writing score: ……… (0-100)
5) Your English language learning experience:

a) Taking English language courses in private language schools
b) Virtual learning
c) Learning through self-studying
d) Studying/living in a foreign country
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 169
SECTION 2: PERCEPTION TOWARD THE USEFULNESS OF TEACHER FEEDBACK, PEER FEEDBACK,
AND SELF-ASSESSMENT
Instructions: Please mark your perception on the usefulness of teacher feedback, peer feedback, and self-assessment by
using one of the options (never, rarely, sometimes, often, always) provided.
Item
Sometimes
Always
Rarely
Never
Often
1. I find teachers’ written feedback useful.
2. It helps when my teacher only highlights my vocabulary errors.
3. It helps when my teacher corrects my vocabulary errors.
4. It helps when my teacher only highlights my grammar errors.
5. It helps when my teacher corrects my grammar errors.
6. I find it useful when my teacher gives me written comments on the quality
of the content of my writing.
7. It helps when my teacher corrects the content of my written work.
8. Teacher written feedback on my organizational errors is helpful.
9. It helps when my teacher corrects the organization of ideas in my written
work.
10. I find it useful to receive peer feedback.
11. I find peer feedback useful when the teacher trains us on how to give
feedback.
12. I find it useful when peers comment on my writing by referring to a
checklist, rubric, or questionnaire that focuses on the quality of my
writing.
13. I find my peers’ general comments useful even when they do NOT use
rubrics to give feedback.
14. I find it useful to discuss my written work with my peer.
15. I find self-assessment useful in improving my writing.
16. I find it useful when my teacher trains me on how to assess my own
written work.
17. I find analyzing written samples useful.
18. Self-assessment checklists (guidelines that help me assess the quality of
my own writing) help me in revising my written work.
19. I find a self-assessment checklist that focuses on different stages of
writing (pre-writing, writing, and post-writing) useful.
20. I feel self-assessment should be used as an exercise to point out the
strength and the weakness of my own writing.
21. I feel the grade assigned by the peer should be used as the final grade in
the assessment of the course.
22. I feel the grade assigned by the teacher should be used the final grade in
the assessment of the course.
23. I feel the grade assigned through self-assessment should be used as the
final grade of the course.
24. Teacher feedback is more useful than peer feedback and self-assessment.
25. Peer feedback is more useful than teacher feedback and self-assessment.
26. Self-assessment is more useful than teacher feedback and peer feedback.
27. I find a combination of teacher and peer feedback useful.
IJALEL 5(5):158-170, 2016 170
Item
Sometimes
Always
Rarely
Never
Often
28. I find a combination of teacher feedback and self-assessment useful.
29. I find a combination of peer feedback and self-assessment useful.
30. I find it useful when teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment
are all practiced in my writing class.
If you have any more ideas about teacher feedback, peer feedback and self-assessment in ESL writing; kindly mention
them in the space below:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
Thank you very much for your invaluable support.
The Impact of Embedded Story Structures versus Sequential

Story Structures on Critical Thinking of Iranian Intermediate
EFL Learners
Sara Samadi (Corresponding author)
Research and Science Centre, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Karaj, Iran
Farid Ghaemi
Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Iran

Abstract
Confirming the constructive effects of reading comprehension on critical thinking, this paper attempted to investigate
the impact of story structures on critical thinking of Iranian EFL learners. In doing so, the researcher utilized a quasi–
experimental design with 60 intermediate students who were divided into two embedded story structures and sequential
story structures groups (experimental groups). After taking PET, a critical thinking questionnaire was employed as a
pre-test. The two groups received 16 sessions of treatment. All participants received similar amount of instruction but
one group was given embedded short stories and the other group sequential short stories. To compare the two groups,
they were received the parallel critical thinking questionnaire as a post-test. The two null hypotheses in this study were
rejected due to different performance of the two groups. Statistical results did not support the superiority of neither
structures. Therefore, the researcher was not able to suggest which structure caused a better or higher impact on critical
thinking. However, the findings reveal that teaching story structures in EFL context can develop critical thinking of
intermediate EFL learners. The study have some implications for test-designers, teachers, and students.
Keywords: Critical thinking, Embedded story structure, Sequential story structure, Reading comprehension
1. Introduction
Findings have mentioned that learners cannot receive certain information passively without any changes in learning
environments that activate their thinking skills. Accordingly, schools have better to teach students how to learn and
think for themselves.
Richard Paul & Linda Elder (2008) assert that it is the nature of human to think. But much of our thinking is not
complete, it is partial, one-sided, uninformed, and distorted. To improve the quality of our life we need to improve our
thinking skills. In brief, thinking is a necessary part of our social and intellectual lives.
As Paul (2004) claims, there is a close relationship between reading comprehension and critical thinking. Those who
can improve their reading skill, have a reflective mind and those with higher reading ability, can think more critically
and creatively.
Therefore, critical thinking is important in education; learners who are able to think about reasons in logical manner are
successful. Many researchers believe that there is a necessity for everyone to become a better critical thinker. They all
come to an agreement that enriched critical thinking has a significant effect among all different classes of the society
and social groups. Therefore, for all students and teachers it is necessary to learn critical thinking for their own
educational development and understand its role in their future life.
Consequently, reading is one of the most significant skills in our daily life. It helps people to learn, acquire knowledge,
and experience everywhere at any time. The importance of reading is under consideration in second or foreign
language. The role of text structure in clarifying meaning of text is significant. Knowledge of narratives structure thus
can be beneficial in furnishing literary reading skills.
Until recently, language teachers and learners did not show much interest in using stories to improve critical thinking
and those who were interested did not use them seriously. Majority of students used these instruments as a means of
entertainment and did not pay attention to stories as a helpful way for improving their thinking.
Some researchers find a number of effective and useful points with regard to the use of stories in improving critical
thinking; in contrast, others show that using stories do not affect critical thinking. While several studies have been
conducted to investigate the effects of embedded and sequential story structures, relatively few have been done on the
IJALEL 5(5):171-178, 2016 172
effects of these story structures on critical thinking and there is not any research about the effects of embedded and
sequential story structures on critical thinking of learners and the role of regular practices have been neglected for a
long time. Accordingly, most of teachers have failed to teach students to think critically.
Al-Dersi (2013) states that the use of short-stories can be the best method to achieve this goal. All stories contain
elements that can determine structure and each is present in every story, there is generally one that the author cares
about most dominates the others.
All the story events and states were virtually identical in the two structures; however, the sequencing of the events and
states was manipulated to produce sequential causal chain and embedded causal network structures.
Riedl & Young (2006) maintains that sequential narrative, unlike the embedded narrative, is a form of narrative in
which events are sequenced from beginning to ending.
As narrative form is an intrinsic tendency of human mind to construct meaning, it is significant in people lives. Our
mind prefers to process whatever we experience in a narrative form rather than as discrete facts in logical relationships
(Pearson, 2008).
Based on the above-mentioned points, this study would aim to show that the embedded story structures and sequential
story structures have significant effect on critical thinking of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, this study attempts to
shed light on the effects of these story structures on critical thinking of intermediate EFL learners and try to improve
critical thinking of EFL learners in a different way. It also intends to signify how short story structures guide the process
of understanding texts.
In fact, the proposed study was done to improve critical thinking of students and in this way help them to increase
stress-management skills and help them to reflect and learn effectively. In the following, we represent the research
questions that led this study.
Q1: Do embedded story structures have any significant effect on critical thinking of EFL learners?
Q2: Do sequential story structures have any significant effect on critical thinking of EFL learners?
According to Kabilan (2000), students can improve their thinking skills through different teaching methods and
materials. For example reading text books which activate learners’ thinking, help them to become critical thinkers.
Grabe (1991) affirms that there are some skills in critical thinking that can be applied to reading comprehension such as
analysis, deduction, and evaluation.
Reading comprehension is one of the most significant components in English language learning for all learners because
it the root of knowledge in education (Alverman & Earle, 2003). Reading proficiency is the constructing meaning and
thinking before, during and after reading by mixing reader's background knowledge with the existing information by the
writer in the context (Sweet & Snow, 2003).
Rauch and Weinstein (1968) prove that reading is a complicated skill. It has intellectual outcomes that spread beyond its
instant task of conveying meaning from a specific passage. Furthermore, these outcomes are naturally mutual and
exponential. The reading comprehension process happens when the reader comprehends the information in a text and
deduces it appropriately (Ahmadi & Hairul, 2012). Reading is the mixture of perception and comprehension between
the readers and the setting (Eskey, 2005).
Farhady (2005) states that people usually read because they want to gain information about a specific subject.
Studying the purposes and effects of reading, Grellet (1996) has separated reading into two key parts: reading for
pleasure or reading for information.
Rosenblatt (1938) states that many people read anything written to gather information. According to Grellet (1996),
people read books to do something with the data they gather from the reading part.
Considering reading comprehension as an important skill in second language syllabus, Barnett (1989) defines numerous
explanations for its importance: It could be continued when learners improve language learning; it continues as a
significant objective in lots of programs; and it helps the improvement of learning skills.
Storytelling and story reading also have the power to combine the arts and education and persuade students to connect
them with their learning.
Mottley and Telfer (1997) do a research to clarify what teachers’ experiences with story reading, both as readers and as
tellers, has been. The researchers come to an agreement that the most of teachers could remember events with
storytelling, signifying that these events have a long-lasting influence on them.
Barthes and Duisit (1975) claim that there are a lot of types of narrative in the world. Narrative exists in myth, legend,
tales, short stories, history, tragedy, drama, comedy, pantomime, paintings, movies, local news, and conversation.
Additionally, with these different types, it always exists in all places, in all cultures; certainly narrative begins with the
history of human being; there is certainly not and there has never been any place, any societies without narrative; all
human groups with all classes, have their own stories, and generally those stories are liked by men with another and
even opposite cultural backgrounds.
Embedded stories set up the essential requirements for a second episode to happen, but does not immediately cause the
second to occur. Episode embedding happens when a second episode initiates before a first episode has finished. A
second episode can be embedded in a first episode in one of three settings: the beginning, the development, or the
IJALEL 5(5):171-178, 2016 173
ending. The character tries to achieve a goal, fails because one or more requirements have not been met, and must create
a different plan to reach the goal.
The sequential story could be defined as an ordered network of story categories and logical relations linking the
categories. Categories show the different kinds of information that recur in a lot of stories. The logical relations joining
the categories show the degree to which information in one category effects the happenings of events in following
categories. The primary separation in the story structure contains two parts: the setting category and the episode. The
episode is the key higher order unit of analysis in a story and comprises specific kinds of information and work for a
different function in the schema (Stein and Trabasso, 1981).
Story structure straight instruction consists of improving the learners’ abilities to differentiate the elements of narrative
text and use these elements to expand their understanding of the story (Beck, 1984).
In spite of all attempts and prices of foreign language teaching in Iran, the problem seems to be in educational system,
in that teachers try to clarify what to think instead of how to think.
Currently critical thinking has become one of the catchwords. Its modern origins can be traced back to the early 20th
century which educator John Dewey presented the concept of reflective thinking.
A lot of researchers have defined critical thinking throughout the years. Its roots are in psychology and philosophy from
the time of Socrates.
Bailin (1998) classifies two types of approaches to critical thinking: the normative (philosophical) approach that
emphases on critical practices and the descriptive (psychological) approach that emphases on abilities, procedures and
techniques.
In spite of all opposing thoughts and opinions on teaching critical thinking skills, everyone come to an agreement that
thinking critically is the most important subject in education (Reed, 1998).
Teaching critical thinking in a strong sense is one of the important issues in the foundation for critical thinking (Paul
and Elder, 2008).
The matter of integrating critical thinking skills in teaching has increased numerous inconsistent thoughts about whether
critical thinking can be trained or not.
3. Methodology
3.1 Participants
A total of 60 Iranian female EFL learners at the intermediate level of English proficiency, studying at Karaj Simin
language institute in Iran took part in this study in October and November 2015. The study was carried out for 32
sessions (each group had 16 sessions). All the candidates were homogenized for their level of language proficiency with
the PET reading task.
3.2 Instruments
The following data collection instruments were applied in this study.
A Preliminary English Test (PET, reading part), was utilized to find out the homogeneity of the groups. Preliminary
(PET) qualification indicates that learners have learnt the basics of English and now have practical language skills for
routine lives' use.
Preliminary was reintroduced in 1980 and offered to candidates throughout the 1980s in limited entry form. It appeared
as a good exam in the 1990s, getting updates in 1994. In 1999, the exam was reviewed with participants and the modern
version was presented in March 2004.
Four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking are included in PET. But in this study candidates are tested for
their ability to understand the meaning and structure of reading passages at sentential and discourse level. The Reading
paper has five parts and 35 questions. Parts 1 to 5 concentrate on reading skills, comprising basic knowledge of
vocabulary and grammar. The exam comprises answering multiple choice questions, choosing descriptions which match
different texts, and recognizing true or false information. Candidates are supposed to read and understand different
varieties of short texts and longer scientific texts. Text sources might consist of symbols, brochures, newspapers,
magazines and messages such as notes, emails, cards and postcards.
To accomplish the task, Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Test was utilized as both pre-test and post-test. The test
included 85 multiple choice items and participants should correctly answer questions within 40 minutes.
The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Test is an assessment instrument considered as a way to measure an individual's
critical thinking skills. It is one of the strongest predictors of job and educational success.
Reliability of this questionnaire was measured via Cronbach's Alpha because the formula also represents internal
consistency of the test which partially reflects its validity. The value of Cronbach's Alpha was .687, which was
considered a relatively acceptable value; therefore, it was concluded that the utilized critical thinking questionnaire
enjoys satisfactory level of reliability and internal consistency.
In addition, in the task of facilitating students’ thinking skill, one group was given embedded short stories and the other
group was given sequential short stories.
The teaching materials chosen by the researcher included twelve intermediate short stories (six embedded short stories
and six sequential short stories), each of which was presented to the participants at the end of the class time (the last half
hour). The selection of those stories was based on the subsequent three main conditions recommended by Nuttall
(1996):
IJALEL 5(5):171-178, 2016 174
 The stories were supposed to draw the participants' attention as the issues relate to real circumstances and
applicable to the participants’ lives.
 The length of the stories was considered appropriate for the prearranged period of time for each one, avoiding
the students from being bored.
 The stories were considered to be at an ideal level of language difficulty in terms of linguistic features and the
number of new words.
3.3 Procedure
As mentioned, 60 intermediate EFL learners participated in this study. Participants were assigned into two experimental
groups. All students participated in a modified version of PET in order to make sure there was no meaningful difference
between the two groups before receiving the treatment and to make sure that the participants were at the same level of
language proficiency.
At the first session, the critical thinking questionnaire was given to students as a pre-test.
Embedded and sequential story structures were described by the teacher and participants were informed that they were
going to learn story structures.
The researcher explained the importance of using short stories in improving critical thinking. The students were ask one
question:
How do you think embedded or (in another group) sequential story structures might help learners improve their critical
thinking?
Goals and objectives were written on the board to encourage students' participation as collaborators in the learning
process.
During this stage, students practiced and paid attention to the sequence of stories for answering the questions.
Lastly, researcher provided feedback to the students' performance. Students had to select a topic followed by generating
summaries with sequential or embedded structures.
After teaching this strategy in the classroom, the teacher conducted a parallel critical thinking to see whether this was an
effective intervention. The allocated time for the completion of the post-test was 40 minutes. After that, the researcher
scored them according the tests' answer keys. All activities were performed individually.
3.4 Design
As a random sampling method was not conducted by the researcher, the design of the research was quasi-experimental.
The quantitative data was collected through critical thinking questionnaire as a pre-test and post-test and analyzed
statistically; percentages and graphs were made to compare these two groups. It lasted for two months.
Application of parametric statistical analyses is acceptable if a number of assumptions are recognized. Besides the
assumption of normality of the analyzed data which is tested through a one sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test in the
present study, it is required to verify homogeneity of variances of the data sets. Indeed, for parametric sample-sample
comparisons to be valid, it is to be statistically verified that the difference between the variances of the samples from
which the data is collected is not statistically significant. This, in turn, indicates that the members of the samples have
been selected from the same population. In this study, the assumption of homogeneity of variances is tested through
Levene's Test for Equality of Variances which is clear in the t-tables.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the PET, pre-test and post-test of critical thinking of the two groups
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Test of General English of the Embedded Story 30 20.00 34.00 25.0000 3.51352
Structures Group
Pre-test of Critical Thinking of the Embedded 30 39.00 79.00 52.5667 10.50019
Story Structures Group
Post-test of Critical Thinking of the Embedded 30 41.00 81.00 59.6667 11.66585
Test of General English of the Sequential Story 30 19.00 33.00 25.0333 3.44897
Structures Group
Pre-test of Critical Thinking of the Sequential 30 39.00 73.00 51.3333 9.11737
Post-test of Critical Thinking of the Sequential 30 39.00 78.00 55.6000 11.08774
Valid N (listwise) 30
The results of the one sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of normality of the sets of scores from the PET, pre-test and
post-test of critical thinking of the embedded story structures group and the sequential story structures group reveals
that for none of the sets of scores the recommended asymptotic level of significance is smaller than the standard .05
level of significance. Consequently, it is resolved that all of the data sets are normal and application of parametric tests
is justified.
IJALEL 5(5):171-178, 2016 175
Since the calculated level of significance for Levene’s measure of equality of variances is .967, which is larger than the
.05 standard, homogeneity of variances of the two sets of scores being analyzed is justified and t is used without any
modification. On the other hand, SPSS suggested .971, which is more than .05, as the two-tailed level of significance of
the independent samples t (-.037); accordingly, it is verified that the two groups are not statistically different in terms of
their participants’ knowledge of English.
The value of Cronbach’s Alpha is .687, which is considered a relatively acceptable value; therefore, it is determined that
the applied critical thinking questionnaire has a satisfactory level of reliability and internal consistency.
Table 2. Paired-samples t test of the pretest and post-test of critical thinking of the embedded story structures group
Paired Differences T df Sig.

Mean Std. Std. Error 95% Confidence (2-
Deviation Mean Interval of the tailed)
Difference
Lower Upper
Pre-test of Critical -7.10000 6.91999 1.26341 -9.68397 -4.51603 -5.620 29 .000
Thinking of the
Embedded Story
Pair 1 Structures Group – Post-
test of Critical Thinking
of the Embedded Story
Structures Group
Table 2. demonstrates that the difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the embedded story
structures group is statistically significant since the proposed level of significance of the t, which is .000, is less than the
standard level of significance (i.e. .05). Subsequently, it is resolved that the treatment given in this experimental group
has successfully improved the participants’ critical thinking ability.
Table 3. Paired-samples t test of the pre-test and post-test of critical thinking of the sequential story structures group
Paired Differences t df Sig.
Mean Std. Std. Error 95% Confidence (2-
Deviation Mean Interval of the tailed)
Difference
Lower Upper
Pre-test of Critical -4.26667 6.39468 1.16750 -6.65448 -1.87885 -3.655 29 .001
Thinking of the Sequential
Story Structures Group –
Pair 1
Post-test of Critical
Thinking of the Sequential
The paired-samples t (i.e. -3.655) which signifies the difference between the mean of the pre-test and post-test of critical
thinking of the sequential story structures group is statistically significant because, as stated in Table 3., the calculated
level of significance of t, which is .001, is less than the .05 standard level of significance. Therefore, it is determined
that critical thinking ability of the members of the sequential story structures group has improved significantly from the
pre-test to the post-test. In other words, the treatment given in this group has enhanced the participants’ critical thinking
ability.
Table 4. Independent-samples t test of the pre-test of critical thinking of the two experimental groups
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 variances.296 .588 .486 58 .629 1.23333 2.53890 -3.84883 6.31549
Pre-test of
assumed
Critical
Equal variances .486 56.881 .629 1.23333 2.53890 -3.85096 6.31762
Thinking
not assumed
IJALEL 5(5):171-178, 2016 176
Table 4. verifies homogeneity of variances of the two sets of scores since the level of significance of Levene's estimate
of equality of variances (.588) is more than .05. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the difference between the mean of
the pre-test of critical thinking of the embedded story structures group and that of the sequential story structures group
is not significant as the suggested two-tailed level of significance, which is .629, is larger than the standard level of
significance. This means that although the two groups performed differently in the pre-test of critical thinking, this
difference is not statistically meaningful.
Table 5. Independent-samples t test of the post-test of critical thinking of the two experimental groups
Levene's Test for t-test for Equality of Means
Equality of
Variances
F Sig. T df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
Difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances .000 .991 1.384 58 .172 4.06667 2.93842 -1.81523 9.94856
Post-test of
assumed
Critical
Equal variances 1.384 57.851 .172 4.06667 2.93842 -1.81555 9.94888
Thinking
not assumed
In table 5., since homogeneity of variances of the critical thinking post-test scores is established and the calculated level
of significance of Levene's estimate of equality of variances (i.e. .991) is larger than the standard level of significance,
the degree of freedom of t does not necessitate any adjustment and the level of significance of t (.172) is reported from
the first row of the table.
Just like the case with the pre-test of critical thinking of the two groups, the difference between performance of the
participants of the embedded story structures group and that of the participants of the sequential story structures group
is not statistically significant. This means that the difference between the mean scores is not large enough to be
considered meaningful. Therefore, it is determined that the effects caused by the two different types of treatment is
statistically similar.
Table 6. Effect size of the treatments provided in the two

experimental groups
Eta Eta Squared
Post-test of Critical .179 .032
Thinking * Group
Membership
The two treatments are effective; yet, they are similar and none of them is more effective than the other. This is exactly
what the weak and inconsiderable effect size signified by the eta squared (.032) reported in Table 6.
6. Conclusion and Implications
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of embedded story structures versus sequential story structures on
critical thinking of Iranian EFL learners. To pursue this objective the researcher offered two null hypotheses:
H01: Embedded story structures do not have any significant effect on EFL learners’ critical thinking.
H02: Sequential story structures do not have any significant effect on EFL learners’ critical thinking.
Having verified normality of the collected data and homogeneity of the samples in terms of the subjects’ knowledge of
English, in order to make it easier for the researcher to prove the proposed null hypotheses in this Chapter, significance
of the difference between results of the pre-test and post-test of critical thinking of the subjects from the embedded story
structures group and the sequential story structures group put to a statistical test.
It is resolved that the effects caused by the two different types of treatment were statistically similar. The two treatments
were effective; but, they were similar and none of them was more favorable than the other.
Based on the results, it became obvious that the treatment given in the embedded story structures group has formed a
significant effect. Therefore, embedded story structures have significant effect on EFL learners' critical thinking and it
is possible to reject the first null hypothesis:
“Embedded story structures do not have any significant effect on EFL learners’ critical thinking.”
According to the results, it concluded that the treatment given in the sequential story structures group has significantly
affected the subjects’ critical thinking ability. Thus, the researcher is to reject the first null hypothesis:
IJALEL 5(5):171-178, 2016 177
“Sequential story structures do not have any significant effect on EFL learners’ critical thinking.”
This study concluded that learning short story structures are effective and can support the EFL learners improve their
critical thinking.
This study has practical implications for language teaching in EFL context. Two embedded and sequential story
structures are approved to be effective tools in improvement of critical thinking of EFL learners and results suggested
that despite previous assumptions, none of them is more favorable than the other.
Beyer (1987) believes that thinking skills should be taught in order to be improved. Teaching students to think should
be main concern of our schools today. In any thinking process we employ critical and creative thinking. The term
critical thinking is common in education, psychology, and philosophy. Developing critical thinking skills is an old idea.
Osborne (1932) declared that one of the main purposes in education is development of thought power. Dressel and
Mayhew (1954) claimed that teachers and educational settings are responsible for teaching students to think critically
and creatively.
Students should learn thinking and reasoning skills to reach their fullest potential in today's society because teachers can
no longer be information givers (Meyers, 1986). Learners require text books that stimulate their critical thinking and
teachers should be qualified to change their approaches toward students and themselves (Kabilan, 2000).
This study is also addressed test developers. Having in mind that the goal of testing is to assess the teaching program
and the progress of the learners, this study motivates the test developers to make changes in testing, developing tests to
teaching as well as improving the students' ability to be creative in performing the tests.
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comprehension (pp. 12-30). New York: Guilford.
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Defying the Dominant Masculine Identity in D. H. Lawrence’s

Novel The Rainbow
Angelina Subrayan (Corresponding author)
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya

Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract
The active contributions to studies on men and masculinity that comprise a wide scope of cultures support the notion
that significant social organisations legitimise the domination of men over women. Men’s dominance over women is
ideologically sanctioned in some cultures. However, not all men observe this nature of masculinity as there are some
who dispute the dominant type of masculinity by inculcating alternative masculinities which are subordinate in nature.
Nevertheless, most men place themselves fittingly in unavoidable circumstances especially in gendered relationships. In
this study, there are instances in D.H. Lawrence’s novel, The Rainbow that show how one of the male protagonists
rebels against the social convention that advocates stereotyped masculine norm. The purpose of this study is to explicate
the male protagonist’s portrayal of subordinate masculinity that flouts the social expectations during the industrial
British era. This study applies the concept of Wetherell and Edley to explicate the features associated with subordinate
masculinity in a gendered relationship. The fundamental findings reveal that the male protagonist negotiates his
dominant masculinity to allow improved relationship with his spouse.
Keywords: Masculinity, Dominant, Subordinate, Defying, Gendered relationship
1. Introduction
Studies on masculinity have discussed how the concept of masculinity has transformed in recent times. Lawrence in his
work Fantasia of the Unconscious (1971), revealed that the difference between men and women in the areas of
education and marriage is obviously caused by the belief that men are grounded logically on the principle that they are
more advanced than women and any changes in this situation will obviously be unsuccessful. In fact, in a patriarchal
society, the cultural ideas about an ideal masculinity are tools of social control that are used to maintain patriarchal
order (Johnson 85-86). The adjustment from the gender history of masculinity to the history of masculinities is basically
caused by Tosh’s idea of ‘the fruitful enquiries of historians’ (14-15). During the mainstream of the eighteenth century,
the theory of masculinity was interwoven with external politeness and improvement (Carter 1). Since Lawrence’s
fundamental concern in most part of his work is about the relationship between men and women, it justifies the attempt
made to study his novel through the point of view of one of the male protagonists through his relationship with his
spouse. The rapport between the opposing genders and the characters’ position in society are what matters most to
Lawrence.
The period of industrialisation and the effect of World War 1 in the novel observed the momentary experience in social,
economic, and individual growth. It was also a time of voyage, a battlefield for the conflict on science and religion.
However, more important to these powerful signs is the industrial revolution's reign that encouraged adjustment within
an individual’s character, which is a redefinition of what it means to be a human. It is this rising consciousness of
difference that appears to promote most men, the feelings of loneliness, misery, alienation and all the noticeable themes
in the early twentieth century writings. During this time, men were trapped by the heartless inhuman industrial system.
Negotiation on the portrayal of masculinity was crucial to reduce constraints experience by these men. Through careful
reading of the novels, there is evidence in Lawrence’s masculine perspectives that illustrates conflicts of identities when
Tom Brangwen, the male protagonist defies the dominant type of masculinity. Most importantly, “one of the most
successful ways of being hegemonic, or being a ‘man’ could be to exhibit one’s detachment from the dominant form of
masculinity as a way of supporting gender equality” (Wetherell and Edley 351).
2. Methodology
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Wetherell and Edley (1999) in their study, worked on an unconventional vital discursive psychology of masculinity.
They worked intensely with the idea of how men position themselves in connection to traditional ideas of being men.
They indicated that, there is a need to consider the likelihood that complicity and resistance to the dominant type of
masculinity can be combined. In addition, Wetherell and Edley assert that men position themselves in diverse ways at
different times. They discovered that men have a tendency to take discursive routes while formulating negotiating
positions of masculinity (335).
In the present study, the focus is on the male protagonist’s nonconformity to dominant masculinity to pursue a more
egalitarian rapport with his wife. The Rebellious type of masculine behaviours requires the male character to define
himself with regards to his nonconformity, and the negotiations comprise the flouting of social expectations. Men who
are dominant in the beginning may cast-off their authoritarian macho masculinity and behave in contrast to being manly
and may become domesticated. The critical examination in this study is based on the perception where, it is likely, that
men detached themselves from dominant forms of masculinity to sustain gender equality. Relevant excerpts are
collected from the novel to illuminate how the dominant portrayal of masculinity is defied by the male protagonist.
3. Analysis and discussion
The act of responding to the variations in society’s concepts of masculinity and femininity and most importantly the
condition of marriage, has forced Lawrence’s male protagonist Tom to establish a new world. This is done in his
understanding of a prevailing pattern through his notions of masculine roles. Tom does not maintain only one feature
throughout the novel. He either negotiates his dominant self to have a balanced relationship with his spouse or intends
to seek contentment in his life.
3.1 Summary of the Novel
The Rainbow narrates the story of the Brangwen family, who ploughed in the Midlands of England, from around 1840
to 1900. Tom from the first generation weds Lydia Lensky (Lydia), who is a Polish widow. Tom finds comfort in
adjusting to life in his farm and lives with an old woman who is the housekeeper. He meets a Polish widow, who has a
daughter from her previous marriage. Tom proposes to her and they get married.
3. 2 The Character Tom in the Novel
Tom Brangwen is a significant English farmer who is a lonesome masculine bachelor. His life is focused on his
yearnings for sordid relationships with unfamiliar women and to frequent bouts with alcohol until one day quite
abruptly he marries Lydia Lensky, a Polish widow. While he occasionally desires for an exterior life from the intimate
world of the Marsh Farm, he knows that he is only suitable in his world. Like all the Brangwen men, he attempts to
exert his determination over his wife, but he is not as unrelenting as the other Brangwens in the novel. Eventually, his
kindness and patience gain Lydia’s trust, and the two discover contentment in their marriage.
3.3 Defying Dominant Masculinity
We get to see Tom, who totally rejects the dominant form of masculinity in a number of incidents in the novel. In the
beginning of the novel, we see Tom struggling to adapt to ideas that his mother wants from him including in his studies.
He constructs the idea that “He could not learn deliberately . . . so he had a low opinion of himself. He knew his own
limitations” (The Rainbow 17). These feelings of low self-esteem are due to the incompetency that pervades every
aspect of his life. Lawrence depicts Tom, who is the main character of the Brangwens to experience “fragmentary,
something incomplete and subject” (40). Tom avoids effort to battle these mindsets, but rather attempts to numb these
feelings with alcohol. He did not have the power to challenge even the smallest argument and felt that he was required
to concede to issues that he did not in the least believe in. And having acknowledged them, he did not discern whether
he believed them or “he rather thought he did” (17). Tom’s incapability to grasp the tasks given by his mother impairs
Tom’s sense of self-respect. In his initial and deepest childhood acquaintance with a “warm, clever boy” (19), Tom
perceives himself to be the “server” in their bonding since he “never felt equal with his friend, because the other’s mind
outpaced his own” (19). This idea of pleasing another person and fulfilling their anticipations and requirements
including the circumstance leading to the deeds that are required to do so are emotionally excruciating for Tom.
As the critic Gavriel Ben-Ephraim (1981) states, “Molded by women, Tom lacks confident maleness, let alone assertive
sexuality. The over influence of women in his formation leads to a deficiency not only of manhood but of being. Tom
relies on women for his ‘stability’. . .” (134). Even though Tom has problems having sexual or romantic link with
women, he nonetheless frantically needs a wife. He appears to imagine that marriage is the only solution to his
experience of solitude and desolation as “he wanted something to get hold of, to pull himself out. But there was
nothing” (26). Tom fails to find a woman to “get a hold of”, and so he indulged in drinking. Alcohol offers him with
“this kindled state of oneness with all the world …. obliterating his own individuality, that which it depended on his
manhood to preserve and develop” (28). For Tom, peace is to have a lasting relationship with a woman. Clearly, Tom
believes that he must be able to lose himself in woman. This aspiration is paradoxical because while Tom longs to lose
himself in another, he also greatly fears this self-destruction in the form of submissive masculinity.
Lydia’s distant attitude makes Tom sense that there is hope for his masculine identity and so he trails her passionately to
cling to the feeling that:
He must admit that he was only fragmentary, something incomplete and subject . . . he sat small and
submissive to the greater ordering . . .. He was nothing. But with her, he would be real…. she would
bring him completeness and perfection. (40)
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Tom’s relationship with his wife is indicative of a mother and child relationship. Tom has a deep need to have Lydia
recognise him as a man and as her husband in an unspecified way. He does not know how their relationship should
proceed, or what his place in it is for, “he did not feel like a master, husband, father of her children” (58). Although
Tom and Lydia do ultimately understand each another, Tom remains struggling with his thoughts of destruction and
masculine inadequacy.
Since Tom’s masculine idealness has been tormented by his experience of having been “let down” by his mother, he
allocates his requirement for idealised “recognition” to Lydia, thus creating her to be the idealised character on whom
he depends. Being a man, it should be Tom who should be idealised and not the other way round. Here, Tom is resisting
the dominant masculinity. However, Lydia does not allow this type of relationship with Tom. During one of their
arguments, Lydia proclaims to Tom, “You [you] come to me as if it were for nothing, as if I was nothing there,” to
which Tom responds, “You [you] make me feel as if I was nothing” (89). Unlike Tom, Lydia does not want to be
portrayed as an ideal person to him and neither does she want him to be dependent on her. Lydia prefers a relationship
which depicts partnership with equal rights. Tom allows himself to be manipulated implicitly by Lydia’s decision.
Subjectivity is applied here when Tom’s decision to resist the dominant masculinity is based on his own opinion and
understanding.
In another scene, as the birth of their child draws nearer, Lydia is overwhelmed with the memories of her late children
and her previous husband. Instead of displaying anger that Lydia is reminiscing about her past, Tom accepts the truth
that “he must stand back, leave her alone …. This is sacred to her, and he must not violate her with his comfort” (63).
The circumstance that has drawn Lawrence to create Tom to come to this understanding on the same page is that Tom
confesses to feeling “like a broken arch” but has “remained himself…saved himself from crashing down into
nothingness, from being squandered into fragments, by sheer tension” (63) is noteworthy. It is clearly manifested that
Tom resists his dominant identity to acknowledge his own separation through his wife’s “rejection” of him. Later, when
Lydia lies in childbirth, crying in pain, Tom acknowledges and accepts that the pain is his own pain too. He also reacts
to and accepts the emotional agony of Lydia’s young daughter, Anna, who is weary, alarmed, and longing for her
mother’s company. Tom not only acknowledges Anna who is missing her mother, but he effectively calms her, which
marks the starting of a convincing bond between a father and a child. These are essential phases in Tom’s life where he
resists his dominant masculine character. He portrays his subordinate nature to dominance as his subjective decision
allows him to think rationally for himself, and decide what is the practical thing to do as a husband and as a father.
Tom longs for a life of classiness and prosperity similar to his wealthy brother and he detests his underprivileged life. It
was after two years of marriage that he and Lydia realised each other’s desire for unity. The fundamental key to a happy
accomplishing marriage was to restructure each other’s attitude with equality, and that resulted in having a wonderful
life and each day was a new breakthrough:
They had passed through the doorway into the further space, where movement was so big, that it
contained bonds and constraints and labour, and still was complete liberty. She was the doorway to him,
he to her. At last they had thrown open the doors, each to the other, and had stood in the doorways
facing each other, it was the transfiguration, glorification, the admission. (41)
Tom perceives Lydia not as her true self but relatively as an ideal to be worshipped. In his adoration, he anticipates in
some way to make peace with her. He “knew she was his woman, he knew her essence, that it was his to possess” (58),
but he could not actually acquire her, which results in his core defeat. Tom is placing his resistance when this emphasis
is focused on his own idea, feeling and attitude. They sat down to discuss their problem, thus breaking the leading
patriarchal social practice. As a result of Tom and Lydia coming together in a harmonious way, their daughter Anna
was at peace between them.
In one of the episodes with Lydia’s child Anna, Lawrence exhibits Tom’s personal connection with maternal nurturing
evidences: “[He] discovers the maternal within himself and assumes the role of tender, soothing nurturer” (83). This
creates a scene that is emotional and decisive as Tom’s evolvement has construct to become the contributor of comfort
rather than the patriarchal dominant figure. This act proves to show that Tom is defying the dominant type of
masculinity.
Tom permitted Lydia space and safeguarded her individuality, therefore she is eternally thankful to him. The discussion
clearly shows that the formation of a fresh relation, or the modification of the previous one, between men and women
with unity is vital to have a positive relationship in marriage. In his Study of Thomas Hardy (1914), Lawrence writes, of
the archetypal man:
Let a man walk alone on the face of the earth, and he feels himself like a loose speck blown at random.
Let him have a woman to whom he belongs, and he will feel as though he had a wall to back up against;
even though the woman be mentally a fool. (58)
Lawrence’s implies that for a man to sustain contentment in his marriage, the desire for unity is fundamental. Through
the construction of subjectivity based on life experiences and being practical, Tom has to conform to the unconventional
masculine system.
IJALEL 5(5):179-182, 2016 182
Lawrence correspondingly states that:
The vital desire of every woman is that she shall be clasped as axle to the hub of the man, that his
motion shall portray her motionlessness, convey her static being into movement, complete and radiating
out into infinity, starting from her stable eternality, and reaching eternity again, after having covered the
whole of time. (Study of Thomas Hardy 56)
What is implied in the above extract is that a man is an actor, whereas a woman does not have to do anything. Simply
being a woman she turns out to be the focus of a man’s universe. Lawrence implies that a man’s effort to negotiate his
masculinity is important, as he is held accountable for the resolution in any conflicts. A man who is heterosexual will
not feel fulfilled and can never attain his complete prospective without a woman to whom he can turn to. "Most men
are usually purpose-driven and future-oriented". They are inclined to be rather oblivious to their surroundings and pay
particular attentions to the society’s needs. "They are deeply focused on doing, rather than on being" (Study of Thomas
Hardy 56). Heterosexual men depend on women to build them to make life pleasant just like Tom’s character.
Tom has to take discursive paths to work through his subordinate position in his effort to resist dominance and he could
not achieve transformation without Lydia’s help. In a positive relationship between a man and a woman, dominating
one another results in failure as evident in Tom’s marriage to Lydia. They did not surpass their conflicting point of
views or dualism that exists within themselves, which was one of the essential idea emphasised by Lawrence. Lawrence
implicitly writes a novel in which a man can act as if he exists as both a dominant social being and a person who resists
dominant masculinity simultaneously. They can choose to live effectively in a position of negotiating, or they could
survive in a world with no significance beyond the temporal world.
4. Conclusion
The analysis has led to the conclusion that there are moments in Tom’s life when he realised that he is not required to
perform the social principles of dominant masculine styles. The influence in the experience of household problems and
subjectivity has enforced complicated feeling on the male protagonist, thereby initiating negotiation and resisting the
dominant type of masculinity.
Tom in The Rainbow was a typical farm man doing courageous activities to develop his masculine nature but his lack of
emotion and his refrainment from sharing his feeling with his wife put constraint in their relationship. However, Tom
acknowledged his weaknesses and reconstructed himself to become a reasonable human being by negotiating his
masculine identity.
References
Ben-Ephraim, G. (1981). The Moon's Dominion: Narrative Dichotomy and Female Dominance in Lawrence's Earlier
Novels.” Ed. Rutherford [N.J.]: London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
Ben-Ephraim, G. (1981). The Moon's Dominion: Narrative Dichotomy and Female Dominance in Lawrence's Earlier
Novels. Ed. Rutherford [N.J.]: London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
Carter, Ph. (2001). Men and the Emergence of Polite Society, Britain 1660-1800. London: Longman, 2001. Print.
Johnson, A. G. (2005). The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University
Press, 2005. Print.
Lawrence, D H, and Bruce, S. (1985). Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
---, The Rainbow. (1915). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
---, (1971). Fantasia of the Unconscious and Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious. Great Britain: Penguin Books.
Philip C. (2001). Men and the Emergence of Polite Society, Britain 1660-1800. London: Longman, 2001. Print.
Tosh, J. (1999). A Man’s Place: Masculinity and the Middle Class Home in Victorian Britain. Harlow, London and
New York: Pearson Longman.
Wetherell, M., and Edley, N. (1999). Negotiating Hegemonic Masculinity: Imaginary Positions and Psycho-Discursive
Practices. Feminism & Psychology, 9(3), 335-356. Print.
How to Identify Negative Attitudes towards Inclusive

Education: Critical Discourse Analysis of Russian Transcripts
Using Role and Reference Grammar
Mariia Rubtcova (Corresponding author)
Department of Social Management and Planning, Faculty of Sociology, Saint Petersburg State University, Russian Federation
Oleg Pavenkov
Department of Media Communications, Saint-Petersburg State Institute of Film and Television, Russian Federation
Julia Varlamova
Department of Foreign Languages, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation
Valentina Kaisarova
Department of Management and Planning of Socio-Economic Processes, Faculty of Economics, Saint Petersburg State University, Russian Federation
Lidmila Volchkova
Galina Menshikova
Julia Denisova

Abstract
This paper presents the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) analysis that aims to reveal possibilities required for
carrying out the interdisciplinary research development within Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It takes a closer look
at conflicts, considering the example of a conflict situation occurred in reaction to the opening of the inclusive academic
programme at one of St. Petersburg’s secondary schools. Role and Reference Grammar application demonstrates that
the use of different verb types and macroroles has led to the various interpretations. These findings confirm that RRG
could influence the increase of objectivity of the transcript analysis in qualitative social research. RRG provides new
information which in combination with other methods can help us to understand the positions of participants involved
into conflicts
Keywords: Role and Reference Grammar, Inclusive Education, Qualitative social research in Sociology of
Management
1. Introduction
In the USSR parents were encouraged to provide institutional care for children with special needs. That was mainly due
to the strict legal regulation that forced most of the children with special needs to leave general (regular) schools.
Although the disabled people were affected by the existing legitimacy and “the first disability rights organizations were
considered as dissidents (Raymond, 1989), all treatment decisions were based solely on recommendations carried out by
doctors (Rubtcova et al, 2015a).
However, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the attitude to the soviet medical system was estimated as
extremely negative (Malinina et al, 2015; Pavenkov et al, 2015a; Pavenkov et al, 2015b). The majority of publications
appeared in response to the criticism of social exclusion and stigmatization. Numerous studies on inclusive education
in Russia emerged, that were used as a platform for placing special emphasis on civil rights. For example, Elena Iarskia-
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 184
Smirnova uses personal narratives of Russian mothers of children with disabilities in Saratov (Russia) in the period
from 1995 to 1997 aimed at criticizing the inadequacy of Disability Framework in Russia. It has been proved that
families who decide on upbringing children with special needs at home face social exclusion due to cultural stigma.
Diagnosis of children as defective can lead to feelings of guilt on the part of the mothers (Iarskia-Smirnova, 1999).
Johnson highlights that, in former Soviet states, many disabled children have to be placed in institutions for child care
and treatment. Moreover, the rights of parents are violated by doctors and state authorities (Johnson, 2007). In addition,
methods of self-empowerment people with disabilities in Soviet Russia have also been evaluated (Iarskia-Smirnova,
2001)
While the issue of children with disabilities raises some concerns, a group of western researchers report gradual
improvements in this topical area. It can be explained that civil society has been exposed to «glasnost» movement and
provide significant support to adults, particularly disabled veterans and children. Associational contributions and
cooperation with local authority play more crucial role and lead to partial local successes added to increased influence
on involving people with disabilities in determining their own lives (Smith-Davis, 2000; Roza, 2005; Thomson, 2006).
In the late 2000s, a number of comprehensive papers, describing inclusive education, emerged in Russia. The studies
view inclusive education as an approach that is gradually accepted by the society, moreover teachers and parents agreed
on addressing it as a meaningful idea (Alehina, 2012 a,b; Godovnikova, 2009). Many published works at that period
sounded more and more optimistic, claiming the necessity of elaborate preparation for the adoption of inclusive
education (e.g. Butenko & Chistokhina, 2015).
The Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation" came into force on 1 September, 2013. Despite the law
proclaims education for people with the limited possibilities of health and disability as one of the privileges of
education system in Russian Federation, the problem of readiness of the Russian society to implement inclusive
education remains one of the most debatable in education sector.
The key feature of Russian system is that it establishes and move towards existence its own training method that is
comprised of techniques aimed to work with «special children» - the system of correctional pedagogy. The correctional
pedagogy system was integrated in the Soviet era (Korkunov et al., 1998). Correctional pedagogy is based on the
creation of separate schools for children with special needs and it still has a large number of supporters (Martianova &
Rubtcova, 2013).
In 2014 significant attempts to move towards inclusive education sparked mass protests on behalf of parents and
teachers. In Moscow on 11 October, 2014 parents held a demonstration against the merger of correctional and general
schools (RSD, 2015). Later on 26 October, 2014 many large Russian cities were already overtaken by the mass
demonstrations (MK, 2015), which resulted in working out a petition in defense of Correcting Education in Moscow to
Vice Prime Minister Olga Golodets and signing it by 14 thousand people (MK, 2015). Parents put forward claims to
establish a moratorium on the reform of correctional school education. One of the major drawback of the
demonstrations is that inclusive education has almost been removed from the agenda. The present paper seeks to show
how the negation of inclusive education is formed in our daily practices through the reference to the Role and Reference
Grammar.
Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) «posits a direct mapping between the semantic representation of a sentence and its
syntactic representation» (Van Valin, 2007: 32). Van Valin focuses on the study of grammar and denies the possibility
to reduce grammar to any other phenomena (like discursive processes, for example). Van Valin departs from Chomsky
theory by making attempts not only to describe but also explain grammar competence, he also suggests that language
cannot be simply reduced to grammar textbooks. So, «RRG may be labeled as a «structural-functionalist theory of
grammar»; this is intended to situate it on a continuum of perspectives ranging from extreme formalist at one end to
radical functionalist at the other» (Van Valin, 1993: 1).
In conflict situations, it is very crucial to be aware of how participants determine the situation themselves and which
grammatical structures are of their primary preference. In this respect RRG might become a tool provided for
conducting conflict analysis. On the one hand, representatives of many socio-humanitarian disciplines (for example,
sociologists) seek to apply Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in their works, as stated by Van Dijk (Van Dijk, 2009,
2013). On the other hand, sociologists express concern about the growing tendency to reduce most of linguistic signs
from CDA.
RRG is primarily based on data collection from different languages. «Russian is often cited as an example of a language
with "free word order", where this term is normally understood to mean that variation in the order of arguments and the
predicate does not affect the interpretation of the syntactic functions and semantic roles of the arguments» (Van Valin,
1993: 89). Padusheva has performed the detailed analysis of the Russian language differences and outlined prospects of
the RRG analysis in Russian (1996, 2009a, 2009b). Meanwhile, there is considerable uncertainty with regard to
importance of the mentioned above language differences (Rubtcova et al., 2016; Rubtsova et al., 2015a). This can be
explained as Padusheva focuses primarily on distinctive features with the purpose of the other conception development
on the RRG basis, which is identified as the main goal of the present paper (Padusheva, 2009b).
The objective of the study is to carry out an analysis of transcripts within the framework of RRG, in order to establish
whether RRG can promote the deeper understanding of the conflict through the analysis of discourse.
The research question is the following:
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 185
 Can RRG analysis be useful as it performs an additional interpretation of discourse features in the
conflict situation presented in transcripts?
2. Theoretical framework
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) represents a version of the discourse research procedure addressed to investigating
to what extent (obviously or latently) abuse of our social power and dominance can be realized in the form of discourse
in social contexts. Representing a dissident approach, CDA is focused on understanding, explaining and finally results
in resistance to social inequality (Van Dijk, 2013: 111). Ideological roots of CDA lie in Marxism and the Critical theory
of society (the Frankfurt School and Jürgen Habermas theory). Therefore, the notions of ideology, power, hierarchy and
gender together with sociological variables are considered as relevant for an interpretation or explanation of text
(Wodak & Meyer, 2001).
In addition to CDA, RRG takes serious interest in the creation of the common conception, describing different
languages as well as trying to build cross‐linguistic studies. For this purpose, a special analytical tool has been created.
It is known as Aktionsart that is based on Vendler's classification of verbs (Vendler, 1967) with Dowty’s addition (Filip,
2009: 1197).
RRG supporters offer a series of tests allowing to define Aktionsart types (see Appendix 1). Detailed investigation of all
the tests allows us to develop definition related to a verb class objectively. Furthermore, it enables us to identify
semantic macroroles. As Van Valin proves that there are semantic macroroles: actor and undergoer (Van Valin, 2007:
37); his version of macroroles association is presented in Appendix 2., so, we can compute the semantic representation
of a sentence.
The key feature of RRG is that it describes all languages according to the scheme represented. However, the
implementation of RRG in the Russian language has proven to be rather problematic. Despite the obvious presence of
the Russian language as an object of the analysis (e.g. Van Valin, 1993), little research undertake to outline the
complete work devoted to RRG application in Russian context. Unfortunately, only few researchers have addressed the
issue. Despite our thorough search, we have managed to find isolated works by Padusheva that deserves attentions.
Although her approach highlights the importance of assessment practices it does not provide a complete description of
RRG in Russia. In her study, Padusheva refers frequently to RRG, but she treats it as an example or illustration element
for her own hypothesis, that fails detailed and deep consideration (Padusheva, 1996, 2009a, 2009b). Padusheva's RRG
version for Russian is presented in Appendix 3.
Thus, the main problems in the RRG application within interdisciplinary researches in Russia are evident:
 detailed description of RRG in Russian context for a wide range of representatives of social sciences has been
neglected;
 RRG is not yet established as an interdisciplinary approach that limits the possibilities of its usage.
There is general methodological dissatisfaction among the social science representatives with the accuracy of CDA as it
reveals features of subjectivity. In this regard, RRG with its rigidity and tests independent of the researcher is viewed as
an interesting prospect.
The main purpose of this work is to carry out the analysis of the transcript excerpt (see Appendix 7). The choice of the
transcript for detailed investigation is explained by the fact that many social sciences have developed qualitative
methods of research only. However, the qualitative methodology contains some evident signs of subjective
interpretations. We believe that RRG can allow us to reduce the level subjectivity in the approach.
3. Data and method
We analyzed a transcript excerpt extracted from the tape recorded at Pedagogical council meeting at one of the
secondary schools in St. Petersburg. The choice of the material can be explained by the presence of essential features,
typical for educational process, that represent real conflicts discussed in the paper.
It is a wider knowledge that teaching at a secondary school in Russia reflects the features of conservatism. It explains
why inclusive education can be evaluated as an inadequate pedagogical innovation. In the current study, we take a
closer look at the real face to face discussion that occurs between the alleged teacher of inclusive education and the
deputy principal. The discussion is initiated by discontented parents and results in conflict. Two groups of parents – the
parents of children with special needs and the parents of healthy children – express different opinions about the way the
inclusive programme has been introduced at school their children attend. The alleged teacher, who is working on
inclusive education program, and the school deputy principal try to provide support to different groups of parents. We
make an attempt to illustrate how participants involved in conflict reflect on the same situation in their personal
discursive practices.
The transcript is presented in Russian. The average length of the alleged teacher’s moves calculate 5.33 words in
addition to deputy principal’s moves, which calculate 6.25 words.
Firstly, the predicates are identified; they are proved to be verbs in all cases. This point brings us to the next stage, we
determine the Aktionsart for each predicate used in the tests. At the next stage, the macroroles are established.
4. Role and Reference Grammar (RRG-based) Analysis
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 186
This section deals with the comparative analysis of two short speech extracts recorded at Pedagogical council`s
meeting. At this stage the transcript excerpts are presented with underlined predicates, Aktionsart, Logical Structure and
Macroroles. List of data is presented in Appendix 4. The carried-out tests aimed at developing definition of the Logical
Structure for each predicate presented in Appendix 5.
The alleged teacher of inclusive education
1) Мы (учителя) будем учить особых детей в нашей школе / We (teachers) will teach children with
special needs in our school
Учить / Uchit´/ Teach: causative accomplishment
[do´ (we, Ø)] CAUSE [BECOME znat´/know´ (children with special needs )]
Macroroles: 2; we (teachers) = actor, children with special needs = undergoer
Teachers are obliged with responsibilities for the learning process and perform as actors who will teach. Children with
special needs play the role of object of teaching. Children represent the object towards which the action is directed.
Nevertheless, inconsiderable change in sentence wording would lead to the change in the manner of stating the
arguments and respectively the function of other macroroles:
1.1) We (teachers) will teach the subjects to children with special needs
Macroroles: 2; we (teachers) = actor, subjects = undergoer
This example illustrates the lack of specific macrorole applied to children with special needs.
The analysis of semantic macroroles enable us to apply additional assessment technique to analyze participants’ points
of views on the teaching process, which might be presented implicitly in discourse practices.However, the comparison
of the provided examples (1) and (1.1.) clearly indicate the need to avoid the direct sociological interpretations which
are based on the non-linguistic concept of the (social) roles.
2) Родители (особых детей) ждут наших активных действий /The parents (of children with special
needs) wait for our drastic actions
Ждать/Zdat`/Wait: state
Zdat`/Wait’ (parents, actions)
Macroroles: 2; parents = actor, actions = undergoer.
In the following sentence parents (of children with special needs) play an actor macrorole, despite the fact that they wait
for teachers` actions only. The second macrorole in English is marked by a prepositional phrase in the form of
predicate. However, the identical structural phrases in Russian do not require a preposition in the similar position. To
encode a macrorole in Russian language direct argument is used accordingly.
3) Они (родители особых детей) заполнили анкету / They (the parents of children with special needs )
had filled in a questionnaire
Заполнить / had filled in: causative accomplishment
[do´ (they (the parents of children with special needs ), Ø)] CAUSE [BECOME zapolnena'/filled'
(questionnaire)]
Macroroles: 2; they (the parents of children with special needs ) = actor, questionnaire = undergoer
Parents of children with special needs accomplish an actor`s macrorole. However, in this sentence the parents` actor`s
macrorole only involves filling in a questionnaire, that evidently conducts a real action because it shows the parents`
ability to support the inclusive program. Thus, in this sentence the alleged teacher of inclusive education indirectly
reports on parents of children with special needs intention and focuses on the action while introducing the inclusive
programme.
The deputy principle
4) Родители (здоровых детей) пришли ко мне / The parents (of healthy children) had come to me
Приходить / prihodit' / come: active accomplishment
do' (parents, [prihodit'/come * parents, me (deputy principle))]) & INGR prishli'/had come' (me /deputy
principle)
Macroroles: 2; parents = actor, me (deputy principle) = undergoer
In this sentence the deputy principle positions herself as undergoer, and parents perform as the actors. The
deputy principle pronounces the verb «come». In Russian interpretation “come” means not only that parents go to
somewhere or act movements; and come to the deputy principle or approach her/him, but also that they make claims or
demand. They had come to the deputy principle to report about some problems which were the cause of dissatisfaction.
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 187
Thus, the deputy principle emphasizes active actions of healthy children`s parents and associates them with
dissatisfaction.
5) Также они (родители здоровых детей) говорили директору / Also they (parents of healthy children)
talked to the principal
говорить/govorit'/to tell: activity.
do’ (they (parents of healthy children), [govorit'/ tell' (they (parents of healthy children), principal)])
Macroroles: 2; they (parents) = actor, principal = undergoer
The above example shows the similar situation as in (4). The deputy principle positions the principal as undergoer, and
the parents as the actors, but this grammatical structure does not allow us to talk about the resulted parents actions. The
second macrorole in English is marked by a prepositional phrase as predicate. However, the Russian structure does not
require a preposition in the similar position in the sentence. Therefore we admit it to be a direct argument that encodes a
macrorole. From a political point of view, a direct face to face conversation, conducted between the parents of healthy
children and the principal, informs us of a serious conflict situation (relevant to Russian traditions).
At the same time, neither in the first sentence (4) nor in the second one (5) the deputy principle mentions something
about what kind of conflict takes place. Both sentences emphasize only the sharpness of the conflict and the extremely
active role on behalf of the parents.
6) Они бомбардируют РОНО, чтобы иметь нормальное образование в нормальном классе / They
«bombard» (verbal attack) the local government education office to obtain the normal education in the
normal environment
Бомбардировать/bombardirovat'/to bombard (main verb): activity.
do’ (they (parents of healthy children), [bombardirovat'/ bombard' (they (parents of healthy children), the local
government education office)])
Macroroles: main clause, 2; they (parents of healthy children) = actor, the local government education office =
undergoer
The deputy principle keeps on discussing the conflict problem and uses a verb «bombard» in her answer. Applying the
verbs «come», «tell» and «bombard» later in the dialogue, she describes the conflict situation and finally reveals the
cause. She states that parents of healthy children believe that introduction of inclusive education will not allow their
children to get a normal education. The deputy principle continues to position the local government education office as
undergoer, and the parents as the actor. The choice of grammatical constructions helps to convey the meaning that she
tries to decline all responsibilities for parents` opinion. All the highlighted problems are taken entirely as an initiative of
healthy children parents. However, the grammatical structure used does not allow us to talk about the resulted action.
7) В этой ситуации я никого не убеждаю... / In this situation, I don't try to persuade anyone…
Убеждать /ubezhdat' (imperfect verbs) /try (main verb) to persuade: activity.
In Russian:
do’ (I (deputy principle), [ubezhdat' ( I, anyone)])
Macroroles: 2; I (deputy principle ) = actor, anyone = undergoer
In English:
do' (I, [try' ( I, anyone)]).
Macroroles: 2; I (deputy principle) = actor, anyone = undergoer
In the following sentence the deputy principle, finally, states her opinion, that is extremely negative in relation to the
inclusive program. She does not try to persuade the parents of healthy children. However, the deputy principle does not
mention the parents of healthy children directly, preferring to call them as «anyone». Speaking about own opinion, the
deputy principle puts herself in a position of the actor`s macrorole, and the parents as «anyone» take a position of the
undergoer`s macrorole.
5. Discussion and conclusion
Application of RRG allows us to reveal some latent elements of the considered conflict situation. The current paper
underlines various patterns of the role representations on behalf of the participants in conflict situation. The alleged
teacher of inclusive education demonstrates her concern about the inclusive education development at school. In her
small talk, the focus is placed on the teacher, who have to take an active position, and on the parents of children with
special needs, despite their rather passive attitude. The results illustrate that while forming characteristics of the teachers
position, the supporter of inclusive education employs a causative accomplishment verb type in her/his answers,
considering teachers as the promoters of the program of inclusive education and sources of new knowledge provided to
children with special needs. Hence, we can witness the evident signs of confidence from the deputy principal
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 188
perspective while introducing the inclusive education program; moreover we can stress her resistance in accepting the
situation as problematic.
Although, the role of children with special needs and their parents is essentially diminished, children with special needs
show no evidence in developing active position, moreover, they are treated as object of actions by other participants.
The provided examples prove that they (children with special needs) are mentioned in the conversations by few
participants of the conflict. Parents of children with special needs appear to play rather (passive) roles either. In the
second sentence, a STATE verb is used, which transfer the meaning that parents simply wait, but without evident signs
of further development of situation like fulfillment, result or act. The third sentence highlights the concern expressed by
parents of children with special needs. In this respect CAUSATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENT verb type is used and
characterizes parents as the initiators of the actions. However the action is implied only in the questionnaire and,
therefore, it stresses parents’ passive position more evidently.
The speech of the deputy principal is totally different in manner. She aims at declining all her responsibility for
disagreements, and frequently places the parents of healthy children in a position of the actor` macrorole. In order to
succeed she overuses the verbs of ACTIVITY and ACTIVE ACCOMPLISHMENT types.
It is worth noting that the deputy principal does not have intention to report directly on the unwillingness to introduce
the inclusive education program. Therefore, she applies for the opinion to healthy children parents. She describes the
current conflict situation by manipulating with verbs «come», «tell» and «bombard» in her speculation about the cause
of conflict. So, healthy children`s parents believe that the introduction of inclusive education will not allow their
children to get a normal education. The lexical item "normal" might be interpreted like inclusive educations is
abnormal.
One of the essential advantages of the performed analysis is that we have the opportunity to compare the deputy
principal `s opinion when placed in various social situations. Before the Pedagogical meeting we managed to receive a
semi-structured complete interview with the deputy principal (see Appendix 7). She gave the following answer to our
question: «What do you think about the introduction of inclusive education at your school?»
I share extremely positive attitude towards the introduction of inclusive education. In our city the
«Available Environment» program is being realized nowadays. I completely support this program and
I consider it as an urgent need in our district. At our school there are 12 children who are children
with special needs. I think that the introduction of inclusive education will increase their opportunities
for development. Also, in the future, we will be able to accept more children with special needs …
The RRG-based analysis suggests that the last sentence "In this situation, I don't try to persuade anyone" neglects any
support towards the inclusive programme. Moreover, with this phrase, the deputy principal closes the meeting, without
giving additional explanations and without pledging the word to the supporters of inclusive education. Her speech
shows that she has already decided to support parents of healthy children and shares their fears that the school can
become «abnormal» after the introduction of inclusive education.
Overall, both sides involved in conflict consider their opinions as the only true, ignoring the existence of the issue. Two
opposing groups of parents can be recognized by those teachers who are familiar with the conflict. Considering the fact
that the deputy principal has powerful administrative authority, it is possible to assume that the school might deny the
introduction of inclusive education because of the strong objections on behalf of healthy children`s parents.
The primary goal of the paper is to show, whether RRG can improve the issue of objectivity in the transcripts` analysis
of social research in conflict situations. Our research has proved our hypothesis and showed that RRG can be used as an
instrument for identification the latent elements of self-presentation, and for representation the situation by the
participants in the conflict. It allows us to conclude that future research should apply RRG in an interdisciplinary
context.
It is evident that RRG approach can not be used solely as the research method for conflicts in inclusive education. The
procedure of conflict analysis by implementing multimodal methods offers a lot of perspectives for further
investigations. In our study, RRG helps to reveal the sincere opinion and true intentions expressed by the deputy
principal. Notwithstanding, it becomes possible only in combination with another methodological tool - a semi-
structured deep interview. It is clear that RRG could promote the increase of objectivity of the analysis of transcripts in
qualitative social research. Moreover, it should be noted that RRG provides new information which in combination with
other methods can increase our understanding of the positions of participants involved in a conflicts.
Acknowledgments
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Appendix 1. Tests for the determining of verb classes (Adapted from Van Valin, 2005: 39 by Dr.R. Jiménez Briones,
UAM)
(* = with some exceptions)

IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 191
Appendix 2. Semantic macroroles in Role and Reference Grammar (Van Valin, 2004: 62).
Appendix 3. Vendler's classification of verbs in the Russian language. Padusheva's adaptation of some elements of the
RRG conception to Russian (Padučeva, 2009b:3; Padučeva, 1996: 91-92)
Vendler's classification Padusheva's Progressive

of verbs classification of verbs in PP‐for PP‐in
the Russian language
STATES States +
ACTIVITIES Activities and non-limiting + + _
processes
ACCOMPLISHMENTS Actions and limiting + (imperfective + (imperfective + (perfective
processes verb) verb) verbs)
ACHIEVEMENTS Jump (abrupt change) and _ _ (+)
immediate transitions (perfective
verbs)
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 192
Appendix 4. List of data. The fragment of transcript of the Pedagogical meeting
St. Petersburg, 26.05.2015, duration 42 min
Fragment, 41-42th min, before end
Alleged teacher of inclusive education The deputy principal of the school
Мы (учителя) будем учить особых детей в 8 Родители (здоровых детей) пришли 4 words /
нашей школе / We (teachers) will teach words / ко мне (The parents (Healthy children) 19 sign
children with special needs in our school 34 sign had come to me)
Родители (особых детей) ждут наших 5 Также они говорили директору 4 words /
активных действий (The parents (of children words / (Also they talked to the principal) 25 sign
with special needs) wait for our active actions) 33 sign
Они (родители особых детей) заполнили 3 Они бомбардируют РОНО, чтобы 10 words
анкету (They (The parents of children with words / иметь нормальное образование в / 68 sign
special needs) had filled in a questionnaire) 18 sign нормальном классе (They bombard
the local government education office
to obtain the normal education in the
normal environment)
В этой ситуации я никого не 7 words /
убеждаю (In this situation, I don't try 29 sign
to persuade anyone)
Total 16 25 words
words / / 141 sign
85 sign
The average length 5.33 6.25
words / words /
28.33 35.25
sign sign
Appendix 5. Definition of the verb classes in the studied examples
1) Преподавать/ teach
Преподавать / to teach
TEST 8. Сause Мы будем причиной знаний +

студентов / We will be the cause of
students` knowledge
TEST 1. What happened? Мы будем учить / We (teachers) will +
What’s going on? teach
TEST 2. Progressive Мы учим / We are teaching +
TEST 3. Dynamic adv Мы будем учить энергично / We will +

teach vigorously
TEST 4. Pace adv Мы будем учить постепенно/ We +

will teach gradually
TEST 5. For an hour Мы будем учить в течение часа / + in Russian

*We will teach for an hour ? in English
TEST 6. In an hour Мы будем учить за час / We will +

teach in an hour
TEST 7. Stative Mod Учащие учителя / The teaching +

teachers
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 193
Class causative accomplishment
2) Ждут/wait
Ждать /to wait
TEST 8. Сause Мы являемся причиной ожидания -

наших активных действий / We are
the cause of waiting of our active
actions
TEST 1. What happened? *Родители ждут / *The parents wait -

What’s going on?
TEST 2. Progressive *Родители ждут / *The parents wait -
TEST 3. Dynamic adv *Родители ждут энергично / *The -

parents wait vigorously
TEST 4. Pace adv *Родители ждут постепенно/ *The -

parents wait gradually
TEST 5. For an hour Родители ждут в течение часа / The +

parents have been waiting for an hour
TEST 6. In an hour *Родители ждут за час / *Parents -

wait in an hour
TEST 7. Stative Mod Ждущие родители / The waiting +
parents
Class State
3) заполнили /had filled in
Заполнять / To fill
TEST 8. Сause Родители были причиной +

заполнения анкеты / parents were the
cause of filling in the questionnaire
TEST 1. What happened? Родители заполнили / The parents +

What’s going on? had filled in the questionnaire
TEST 2. Progressive Родители заполняют анкету/ parents +

are filling in the questionnaire
TEST 3. Dynamic adv Родители заполнили анкету +
энергично / parents had filled in a
questionnaire vigorously
TEST 4. Pace adv Родители заполнили анкету +

постепенно/ parents had filled in a
questionnaire gradually
TEST 5. For an hour Родители заполнили анкету в + in Russian

течение часа / * parents had filled in a ? in English
questionnaire for an hour
TEST 6. In an hour Родители заполнили анкету за час / +

parents had filled in a questionnaire in
an hour
IJALEL 5(5):183-196, 2016 194
TEST 7. Stative Mod Заполнившие анкету родители / The + in Russian
filled parents - in English
Class causative accomplishment
4) пришли/ had come
пришли / To come
TEST 8. Сause Родители были причиной прихода -

ко мне / Parents were the cause of the
coming to me
TEST 1. What happened? Родители пришли / The parents had +

What’s going on? come
TEST 2. Progressive Родители приходят/ The parents are +

coming
TEST 3. Dynamic adv Родители пришли энергично / The +
parents had come vigorously
TEST 4. Pace adv Родители пришли постепенно/ The +

parents had come gradually
TEST 5. For an hour Родители пришли в течение часа / * + in Russian

The parents had come for an hour ? in English
TEST 6. In an hour Родители пришли за час / The parents +

had come in an hour
TEST 7. Stative Mod Пришедшие pодители / came parents + in Russian

- in English
Class Active accomplishment
5) говорили/ talked
говорить / To talk
TEST 8. Сause *Они были причиной разговора с -
директором/*They were the cause of
conversation with the principal
TEST 1. What happened? Они (по)говорили / They talked +

What’s going on?
TEST 2. Progressive Они говорят (в данный момент)/ +

They are talking
TEST 3. Dynamic adv Они говорили с директором +
энергично / They talked with the
principal vigorously
TEST 4. Pace adv Они (по)говорили с директором +

быстро/ They talked with the principal
quickly
TEST 5. For an hour Они говорили с директором в +

течение часа / They talked with the
principal for an hour
TEST 6. In an hour * Они говорили с директором за час -

/ *They talked with the principal in an
hour
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TEST 7. Stative Mod Говорившие родители / *the talked + in Russian

parents - in English
Class Activity
6) бомбардируют / bombard
бомбардировать / To bombard
TEST 8. Сause *Они были причиной -

бомбардировки POHO /* They were
the cause of the bombing of the local
government education office
TEST 1. What happened? Они бомбардировали РОНО / They +

What’s going on? bombard the local government
education office
TEST 2. Progressive Они бомбардируют (в данный +

момент) / They are bombarding
TEST 3. Dynamic adv Они бомбардировали РОНО +
энергично / They bombard the local
government education office
vigorously
TEST 4. Pace adv Они бомбардировали РОНО быстро/ +

They bombard the local government
education office quickly
TEST 5. For an hour Они бомбардировали РОНО в +

течение часа / They bombard the local
government education office for an
hour
TEST 6. In an hour * Они бомбардировали РОНО за час -

/ * They bombard the local government
education office in an hour
TEST 7. Stative Mod Бомбардирующие родители / *the + in Russian

bombarded parents ?- in English
Class Activity
7) В этой ситуации я никого не убеждаю (In this situation, I don't try to persuade anyone)
Убеждать / try to persuade
TEST 8. Сause *Я не являюсь причиной убеждания -

/* I am not the cause of trying to
persuade
TEST 1. What happened? Я не убеждаю / I do not try to +
What’s going on? persuade
TEST 2. Progressive Я не убеждаю (в данный момент) / +

I'm not trying to persuade
TEST 3. Dynamic adv Я не убеждаю энергично / I do not try +
to persuade (vigorously)
TEST 4. Pace adv Я не убеждаю постепенно +

(медленно)/ I do not try to persuade
(slowly)
TEST 5. For an hour Я не убеждаю в течение часа / I do +

not try to persuade for an hour
TEST 6. In an hour * Я не убеждаю за час / * I do not try -
to persuade in an hour in Russian it is
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possible as
informal lexis
TEST 7. Stative Mod Убеждающий замдиректора / * Tried + in Russian
to persuade vice director ?- in English
Class Activity
Appendix 6. The excerpt of transcript of the in-deep interview with the vice director
St. Petersburg, 15.04.2015, duration 14 min
I. – interviewer
V. – the deputy principal
Fragment, 5th min
I. Как Вы относитесь к введению инклюзивного образования в Вашей школе?
V. Я очень положительно отношусь к введению инклюзивного образования. В нашем городе

реализуется программа "Доступная среда". Я полностью поддерживаю эту программу и считаю это
насущной необходимостью в нашем районе. В нашей школе обучается 12 детей, которые относятся к
категории особых детей… (пауза) Я думаю, что внедрение инклюзивного образования повысит их
возможности для развития. Также мы сможем принимать и других особых детей на обучение… (пауза)
Translating:
I. What do you think about the introduction of inclusive education at your school?
V. I share extremely positive attitude towards the introduction of inclusive education. In our city the
«Available Environment» program is being realized nowadays. I completely support this program and
I consider it as an urgent need. At our school there are 12 children who are children with special
needs in our district. I think that the introduction of inclusive education will increase their
opportunities for development. Also, in the future, we will be able to accept more children with special
needs …(pause)
A Pragmatic Cross-Cultural Study of Complaints Expressions

in Jordan and England
Nisreen Al-Khawaldeh
Department of English Language and Literature - The Hashemite University, P.O. Box 330127, Zarqa 13133, Jordan

Abstract
Research shows an increasing interest in the area of cross-cultural pragmatics due to the existence of diverse
problematic pragmatic norms (Al-Khawaldeh and Zegarac, 2013). It has been found that identifying cross-cultural
differences in linguistic expression and socio-pragmatic norms of communicative acts would help to reduce problems in
cross-cultural communication (Meier, 2010). To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no study has been conducted to
compare the linguistic expression of complaining by Jordanian native speakers of Arabic and native speakers of
English. To bridge the research gap, this study compares the number and types of politeness strategies that Jordanian
native speakers of Arabic and native speakers of English use to complain. The study investigates the cultural styles and
politeness strategies used by Jordanian native speakers Arabic and native speakers of English for expressing complaints.
The analysis of the Discourse-Completion Tasks’ (DCT) results revealed that eleven complaints strategies were the
most commonly-used by both groups, namely opting out, general annoyance, direct threat, accusation, prayer, advice,
irony, rejoinder that shows no disapproval, exclamation, request for repair, and request for explanation. These strategies
are manifested in the speech of both languages to save the hearer's face and remain polite when performing the
inherently face-threatening speech act of complaint. Though both groups used various complaints strategies at overall
frequencies that were closer, they were statistically distinguishable in the type of the linguistic expression of
complaints, i.e. opting out and prayer. The results are then discussed from the universality and cultures-specificity
perspective.
Keywords: Complaint, cross-cultural study, politeness, pragmatics, speech acts
1. Introduction
The importance of communicative competence has been widely asserted in the field of language teaching and learning.
Language should be appropriately implemented to achieve the target communicative goals. This concept of
"appropriateness" is achieved by mastering not only linguistic rules such as morphology, syntax, phonology and
vocabulary, but also socio-cultural rules of language manifestation (Novick, 2000). Being cross-culturally competent
means that speakers should be aware that though communicative acts appear to be universal, their conceptualization and
verbalization may vary, to a great extent, cross-culturally (cf. Blum-Kulka, et al. 1989).Consequently, researchers (Al-
Amar, 2000; Al-Khawaldeh, 2013) warn that non-native speakers who are not pragmatically competent" run the risk of
being misunderstood or misinterpreted as insulting, uncooperative, "rude" or even more serious. This promotes the
notion of unwanted result of communication misinterpretation and communication breakdowns and communication
(Scollon and Scollon, 1993). To avoid such miscommunications and their negative impact on human relations, more
research should be conducted to highlight any cross-cultural differences in communication. In other words, pragmatics
and communicative acts' appropriateness should be addressed more seriously.
People often encounter uncomfortable situations which most of the time trigger their expression of complaints. The
communicative expression of complaints has emerged most recently as a fruitful ground for cross-cultural comparative
research being viewed as a signifier of cultural variation and one of the most multifaceted features of negotiation even
between members of cultures which might be considered to share generally comparable traditions and norms
(Crawshaw, et. al., 2010; Mayouf, 2013). Therefore, Spencer Oatey (2003, 2005) claims that it is not governed by
universal pragmatic principles rather by both national and contextual convention.
Complaining, within speech act theory framework, is the speakers' communicative act to verbally expresses their
annoyance, disagreement, disappointment, negative and unsatisfied feeling to a certain state of affairs, wrongdoing,
speech, service, action, etc. (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969).It is mainly addressed to the person whom the speaker believes
to be responsible for his or her problem either directly or indirectly (Boxer, 1993; Trosborg, 1995, Tanck, 2002). Such
moral judgment might be passed on something that the complainee has already done or failed to do, or is in the process
IJALEL 5(5):197-207, 2016 198
of doing with some type of expected corrective actions or reaction to the complaint (Dersley and Wooton, 2000;
Monzoni, 2009). It includes acts of threatening, accusing, cursing and reprimanding (Leech, 1981). Thus, it is intended
to cause an offence that is highly threatening to the social relationship between the interlocutors.
The degree of directness is determined by the extent to which the complainer wants to explicitly mention the complaints
to the complainee. In other words, the direct complaint itself is never formulated in the utterance (Trosborg, 1995).
Clyne (1994) differentiates between whinges (i.e. ‘‘long or repeated expression of discontent not necessarily intended to
change or improve the unsatisfactory situation’’ (Clyne, 1994: 49) and direct complaints (i.e. A direct complaint
involves an explicit or implicit accusation and at least one explicit or implicit directive (Clyne, 1994: 54). ) where in
whinges the addressee is not primarily held responsible for the perceived offence (Boxer, 1993); instead, whinges serve
as a release of negative emotion safely, instead of provoking action to redress the offence. This could imply that they
might be used as to elicit others' sympathy, thus as a means to build rapport with others.
A further distinction of two types of complaints has been introduced by Searle (1975): expressive complaints where the
speaker should seek sympathy or commiseration from hearer and directive complaints where speaker should issue
a directive (i.e. an attempt to persuade hearer to do something to repair the damage. Olshtain and Weinbach
(1988) describe some preconditions in which an expression of complaint may occur: The speaker accounts with
"socially unacceptable act" (SUA)
-The speaker perceives the consequences of it as offensive.
-The hearer is regarded as responsible for the SUA.
-The speaker decides to express his/her displeasure.
Studies on the communicative behavior of complaining behavior were mono-cultural, cross-cultural and inter-language
studies (Yarahmadi and Fathi, 2015; Hussein,and Al-Mofti, 2014; Orthaber and Marquez-Reiter, 2011;Farnia,
Buchheit, and Bintisalim, 2010; Henry and Ho, 2010;Chen, 2009; Monzoni, 2009; Önalan, 2009; Ruusuvuori and
Lindfors, 2009 ; LaForest, 2009;Prykarpatska, 2008; Yian, 2008; Umar, 2006, Eslami Rasekh and Fatahi, 2004;Oh,
2003, Boxer, 1993; Schaefer, 1982; Bonikowska, 1988; Drew & Holt, 1988; Bayraktaroğlu, 1992). Within politeness
theory framework, complaining is a face-threatening act to the hearer (Brown, & Levinson, 1987). Making direct
complaint, the speaker is more likely to threat the addressee's face, thus hurt his/her feelings and damage their
relationship (Moon, 2001).Consequently, speakers may tend to employ various linguistic forms along with nonverbal
signals so as to save the hearer's face and remain polite even when performing the inherently face-threatening (Sauer,
2000). As in the case of this study, cross-cultural studies on complaint determine how respondents from different
cultures vary in their choice of the preferred strategies.
Trosborg (1995: 348), a reference linguistic work on complaining, points out that one can complain using various ways:
a complainer may not explicitly complain by formulating an indirect complain to show his/her awareness of offence but
without using clear mentioning the exact cause to evade a conflict when revealing discontent such as "it was working
properly yesterday". A complainer may also express his/her annoyance or disapproval explicitly as result from certain
case or situation in which the complainer implies that a complainee should take responsibility but he/she avoids
explicitly stating that complainee as a guilty person such as “Oh! This will make me lose my job”. Moreover, a
complainer may also resort to either accuse the complainee of being in some ways connected with the offence such as
“Were you coloring next to my sofa?” or blame the complainee for being guilty of the offence such as “You really are
inconsiderate; you have done it again”.
Olshtain and Weinbach (1993) in his study also identified various types of strategies for the act of complaining. First,
the mitigated strategy where the speaker decides to avoid the act and not to show his/her feelings of displeasure or
annoyance to sound more polite and give the impression that he/she cares for the hearer. Second, the indirect strategy is
when the speaker opts to perform the act of complaining in off-records by giving the hint of inconvenience to gain
certain payoffs.
3. Statement of the problem
The present study was driven by some insights from previous works. Speakers are required to have socio-cultural
competence alongside linguistic competence in order to perform the communicative acts appropriately. Being
pragmatically incompetent risk of the danger of being misinterpreted, misunderstood, or might even experience
communication breakdown as a result of lack of language mastery of communicative acts of complaining (Thomas,
1983). Special attention should be paid to the expression of complaints due to the fact that it is a face-threatening act
when the speaker violates the socio-cultural rule of speaking. People from different cultures have different beliefs,
values and attitudes which influence the way they communicate and are perceived by others. People may tend to
explicitly or implicitly follow these specific socio-cultural norms/rules as they may guide the interpretation of
communicative acts. According to Wolfson (1981: 123), “speech acts differ cross-culturally not only in the way they are
realized but also in their distribution, their frequency of occurrence, and in the functions they serve”.
The decision to focus particularly on this speech act was made based on its sensitivity and frequency as a salient
instance of negatively affective communicative acts in everyday life. Complaining is a relatively more intricate
communicative act because of the lack of pre-determined forms and the negotiable interpretations. Olshtain and
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Weinbach (1993) claims that performing the communicative act of complaint can involve different realization
patterns which may vary in line with their degree of severity on the addressee’s face .
If being viewed by native speakers as very difficult to execute, performing the speech act of complaining is of course
very challenging for nonnative speakers. Thus, in order to find out the appropriate means of expressing complaining,
the utterances of native speakers of the target language and culture should be studied first and social variables affecting
them should be analyzed. This means that cross-cultural comparison–based data, as this study, is needed to form a
baseline for further inter-language investigations of points of inter-cultural clashes.
Previous cross-cultural studies on the communicative acts show that compared to other communicative speech acts,
little attraction has been paid to the expression of complaints in general. To the best of the present researcher’s
knowledge, there has been no attempt to compare the culture of Jordan with that of England in relation to linguistically
communicating complaints.
4. Significance of the study
The present study is original in that it makes a contribution to the field of cross-cultural pragmatics by considering the
linguistic expression of complaints in two markedly different cultures of Jordan and England, in a way which
addresses some considerable research gaps in the previous research. The comparison of the patterns of the linguistic
realization of the expression of complaints in these two cultures assist us to gain more fine-grained insights into the
dissimilarities and/or resemblances in the linguistic behaviours and the conceptualisations of linguistic politeness
associated with it in these target cultures. The cast of new light on the sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic aspects of
the communicative expression of complaints could reduce the risk of miscommunication in intercultural communication
situations between Jordanians and English.
Thus, it is hoped that the study will provide a substantial contribution to knowledge through enriching the growing body
of comparative cross-cultural research as such comparison can provide important insights into theoretical issues
regarding the nature of communicative acts, the relation between their types and the common principles of human
communication, the social implications conveyed by performance besides the relation between the culture-specific and
the universal features of communicative acts types. Besides establishing descriptions of how native speakers perform
verbally in day-to-day interactions, this research sheds lights on English native speakers’ linguistic behaviour of refusal.
Thus, the study could serve as baseline information for further inter-language research and in educational settings. The
newly formulated code scheme is of a great significance and can be adopted for further Jordan, other Arabic speaking
countries, or English based-comparative studies. In light of Tanck's (2002) recommendation that material for teaching
pragmatics should be based on careful analysis of research findings, the study is anticipated to be of a valuable
enrichment to the applied linguistics field. In particular, it is pertinent and applicable to teaching both languages to
non- natives, it benefits teachers and administrators in updating their present curricula and instructional plans
considering what is new in research.
5. Methodology
5.1 Research questions and hypotheses
1. Are there any differences in the expression of complaints between Jordanian native speakers of Arabic and native
speakers of English in respect of the use of different numbers of strategy for making complaints?
2. Are there any differences in the expression of complaints between Jordanian native speakers of Arabic and native
speakers of English in respect of the use of different types of strategy for making complaints?
Hypothesis
H0 1.1: Jordanian native speakers of Arabic and native speakers of English do not significantly use different numbers of
strategies when making complaints.
H0 1.2: Jordanian native speakers of Arabic and native speakers of English do not significantly use different types of
strategy for making complaints.
5.2 Instruments
This research study adopted DCT as the research instrument for collecting data. Qualitative approach is appropriate to
meet the aims of the present study of investigating the pattern and frequency of the linguistic expression of complaints.
Despite the fact that DCTs may not be completely dependable research instrument since they do not actually
mirror accurately an individual’s behavior in, and their associated perceptions of, natural exchanges, they afford
researchers the chance to collect typical responses pertaining to examples of typical situations from members of
specific cultural groups, enabling them to categorize responses in a way which shows how representative these
rejoinders are of particular situations in specific cultures. Well-designed DCTs are considered valuable
instruments for revealing participants' pragmalinguistic knowledge of linguistic forms (i.e. the strategies) as they
shape the communicative speech acts’ structure as they are in the speakers’ minds besides revealing their perception
and sociopragmatic knowledge of the contextual variables under which specific strategies are appropriate
(Kasper and Rose, 2002). Given that this research study is cross-cultural comparative study, DCTs are reliable enough
to collect data which is consistent with natural data, at least in the main patterns and formulas with low costs
within a short period in a controlled context (where we can vary and control the social and situational variables). They
may be sufficiently accurate for testing the hypotheses under investigation and enable drawing a generalisation of
IJALEL 5(5):197-207, 2016 200
semantic formulas and strategies used by a sample of target populations of sufficient size. Observation was not found
possible for the present study due to some limitations; time, financial, the impossibility of having a homogeneous
sample representative of population, besides the fact that the covert method of observation is ethically unacceptable
being viewed as a breach of peoples' privacy (Bryman, 1989).
5.3 Sample of the study
The sample consisted of 70 participants who were selected randomly. Statistical analysis using T-test has been
conducted to roll out significant differences as stated by Cresswell (2009). T-test was used to find out the comparison
as there were one variable with two levels (culture; English and Jordanian). The significant differences were rolled
out based on the means and standard deviations when the result was equal or less than (p< .05). The respondents were
relatively homogenous in terms of their cultural background (Jordanian native speakers of Arabic, British native
speakers of English). They were all undergraduate students in Jordan and the United Kingdom from the scientific
and Humanities branches excluding those majoring in English or Arabic, and cross-cultural studies. This is to
reduce the impact of familiar with linguistic pragmatics on their responses.
5.4 Research design and framework
This research is empirical and has some theoretical insights regarding politeness and cross-cultural communication. The
systematic collection of the data involved both groups responding to the same set of social scenarios. The study consists
of both descriptive (i.e. frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics as a basis for analyzing the data regarding
the difference of the realization of the linguistics expression of complaint from a cross-cultural perspective. The
independent variables (i.e. the social and contextual variables of social status, social familiarity, and degree of
imposition) were identified. To ensure a successful comparison of both cultures in the expression of complaints, it is
necessary to compare similar situations regarding the degree of imposition, interlocutors’ social status, and familiarity
(Brown and Levinson, 1987:15).The number and type of strategy were also identified as the dependent variables to
decide whether the differences between both groups are statistically significant. This necessitates classifying the
complaints utterances used by speakers of the two languages in addition to identifying their semantic formulas used.
Theoretically, the present study is situated within (im) politeness research. Locher and Watts’ relational work (2005),
Spencer-Oatey (2008) are the synthesised theoretical discursive politeness framework adopted for analyzing the
collected data Locher and Watts’ (2005) abandon “any attempts to develop a universal, cross-culturally valid theory of
politeness altogether” whereas Watts’ (2003: 255) considers (im) politeness ‘a part of the discursive social practice
through which we create, reproduce and change our social worlds”. There is no inherently polite or impolite linguistic
behaviour (Watts, 2003 and Locher, 2006), rather what are generally used to index one polite communicative act and in
one community, might be used to index a different one in another community. In other words, the linguistic utterances
are open to various interpretations in particular situation.
The present study focuses on linguistic expressions used by speakers strategically to express relational work, negotiate
face and express politeness in a fully contextualised situation which further reflects different socio-cultural values in
both communities. Spencer-Oatey’s (2000, 2008) concept of rapport management which accounted for my data well
have been specifically utilized. Complaining could be a rapport sensitive communicative act without inevitably being
viewed as intrinsically a face-threatening act as argued by Brown and Levinson (1987). This is because complaining
may be expressed in a way that helps to establish, enhance or maintain smooth social relationships among people, rather
than creating social problem. This means that relational work is achieved through creating and maintaining good social
relationships. The present study also follows Terkourafi’s approach/model of politeness in attempting to move beyond
Brown and Levinson’s work by concentrating on contextual variation. The account of politeness has been modeled
around "frame-based" which is the participants’ prior knowledge of contexts and the behaviour that can be politely
applied in such settings (Terkourafi, 2005). In this model, politeness is equated with regularity - "politeness resides not
in linguistic expressions themselves, but in the regularity of this co-occurrence [between linguistic expressions and a
given context" (ibid: 248). Brown (2008) argues that the frame-based view offers an advantage in providing a
mechanism whereby behaviour can be compared to societal norms without assuming or relying on pre-established
prescriptive politeness norms such as in Brown and Levinson (1978) and Ide (1989), or rejecting them (Watts, 1989),
rather it "acknowledges norms to the extent that these can be empirically observed" (Terkourafi, 2005: 247).
5.5 Data analysis
A new code scheme was devised in light of the previous well-known coding schemes (Olshtain and Weinbach, 1993;
Trosborg, 1995, Rinnert and Nogami, 2006; Yian, 2008) in which every realisation pattern of the collected data fitted.
Descriptive and statistical analyses were applied to the data. The frequencies and percentages of complaints strategies as
part of the descriptive analysis were calculated in both languages using the Excel program which in turn explicates the
respondents' preference of which complaints strategies to use according to which situation. The differences were
analysed based on two dependent variables, namely the strategy’s number and type. The analysis of the strategies’
frequencies was conducted as follows: (a) the overall frequency of the strategies employed by Native Speakers of
Arabic (NSsA) and Native Speakers of English (NSsE) in all situations (b) the overall total number of uses of each
strategy in all the given situations. Furthermore, inferential statistics were conducted to roll out if there was a significant
difference between the groups. In particular, T-test was used for conducting the comparison as there were one variable
with two levels (culture; English and Jordanian). The significant differences were rolled out based on the means and
standard deviations when the result is equal or less than (p< .05). The measure of significance employed in this study is
IJALEL 5(5):197-207, 2016 201
(p<.05). In other words, if the p-value is less than or equal to the alpha (p<.05), then the null hypothesis is rejected and
we conclude that the result is statistically significant.
The analysis of the data revealed that the participants resorted to use a variety of expressions for conveying complaints.
This means that complaining can be viewed as a communicative act set rather than a single speech act. The analysis was
carried out in light of two main points: level of directness and amount of mitigation. The responses showed that
complaints are conveyed both directly and indirectly.
The data analysed can be classified into the following taxonomy:
Direct expression of complaints:
1. Expression of annoyance about the offensive event and person or disapproval at the violation which does explicitly
mention the complainable matter event.
English: “It won’t be fair on the rest of us”, “I’m trying studying for an exam but I can’t concentrate”. “I have to study
another summer term because I trusted your judgment”. “I’m not quite satisfied with it because I know I have put in the
hours”. “The way you have advertised this and its outcomes in reality are two completely different things”, “Everything
from the schedule to the organization of the practical elements on this trip has been an utter shame”, “I didn’t think that
the organisation of the trip was very effective”.
Arabic:
“You are careless”. ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﺒﺎﻟﻲ‬. ‫”ﺍﻧﺖ‬
“Unfair remark”, “‫”ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻋﺎﺩﻟﺔ‬
“You are academic consultant” “ ‫"ﺍﻧﺖ ﻣﺴﺘﺸﺎﺭ ﺍﻛﺎﺩﻳﻤﻲ ﻓﺎﺷﻞ‬
“this is cheating” “ ‫”ﻫﺬﺍ ﻏﺶ‬
2. Direct threatening request to get the addressee to do something to redress the situation
English:
“You have to pay for the repair”. “Could you please turn your music down?” “can anything be done to make the
necessary changes?”, “Can you please get it done now”, “Hey there’s a queue here get to the back of it”. “I don’t care
you have to repair it or buy me a new one”, “please call the university and explain that you will get the money
tomorrow.”, “Ideally I would like a remark”, “Please would you review my report as I thought that I had worked really
hard and effectively for the company?”.
Arabic:
“Please, take your turn”."‫"ﻟﻮﺳﻤﺤﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺪﻭﺭ‬
; “revise my mark, please”"‫" ﺭﺍﺟﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺘﻲ ﺩﻛﺘﻮﺭ ﻣﻦ ﻓﻀﻠﻚ‬
“if it is possible, cancel the report and try to assess me honestly"""‫ﺇﺫﺍ ﻛﺎﻥ ﺑﺎﻹﻣﻜﺎﻥ ﺃﻟﻐﻲ ﺍﻟﺘﻘﺮﻳﺮﻭﺍﻋﻤﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺭﻭﻳﺔ ﻋﻤﻠﻲ ﺑﺼﺪﻕ‬
“You are not alone in this world, respect yourself and others’‫ ﺍﺣﺘﺮﻡ ﻧﻔﺴﻚ ﻭﺍﻻﺧﺮﻳﻦ‬,‫ "ﻟﺴﺖ ﻭﺣﺪﻙ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‬:”
3. Accusing, and warning which further implies hearer’s responsibility for it and potential sanctions against the
addressee
English:
“The next time, don’t expect me to consult you”.
“I could lose my place if it is not paid on time”, “This is your mistake”. “You really put me in a serious trouble”. “It is
your fault”
Arabic:
"‫ “ ;"ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﺸﺮﻛﺎﺕ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﺤﺘﺮﻣﻪ‬these are un-respected companies”
“‫“ ;ﺍﻧﺖ ﺷﺨﺺ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﺴﻮﻭﻝ‬you are an irresponsible person”
"‫“ ;"ﺧﺴﺮﺕ ﻣﺼﺎﺭﻱ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻔﺎﺿﻲ‬I have lost money”.
“Do not blame me if they withdraw my schedule” “.‫”ﻻﺗﻠﻮﻣﻮﻧﻲ ﺍﺩﺍ ﺳﺤﺒﻮﺍ ﺍﻟﺠﺪﻭﻝ‬
4. Immediate threat is expressed as a complaint when the speaker chooses to openly attack the addressee
English:
“If you don’t finish the job today, I’ll have to discuss it with the boss”.
“I will take further undesired action”, “Have you heard of the Trade Descriptions Act?”, “I need this ASAP, my
deadline is literally in half an hour”.
Arabic:
, “I will withdraw the whole semester”."‫"ﺳﺄﺳﺤﺐ ﺍﻟﻔﺼﻞ ﻛﺎﻣﻞ‬
“I will complain to your boss about you”" ‫"ﺳﺄﺷﻜﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺴﻮﻭﻝ ﻋﻨﻚ‬
“I will not register the course and you are responsible” "‫"ﻟﻦ ﺍﺳﺠﻞ ﺍﻟﺪﻭﺭﻩ ﻭ ﺳﻮﻑ ﺗﺘﺤﻤﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﺴﻮﻟﻴﺔ‬
“"‫“ ;ﺳﺄﺿﺮﺑﻚ ﺍﻻﻥ‬I will hit you now”
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“‫ﺗﺮﻛﺖ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﻨﻊ ﺍﻟﻚ‬, “I have left the factory for you”.
Indirect expression of complaints:

1. Opting out: Complete avoidance of mentioning the offensive action, event or person
English:
“Nothing”
Arabic:
“I say nothing in such situation”."‫"ﻻ ﺍﻗﻮﻝ ﺷﻲ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺜﻞ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﻗﻒ‬
“‫“ ;"ﻻﺩﺍﻋﻲ ﻟﻘﻮﻝ ﺍﻱ ﺷﻲﺀ‬No need to say anything”
2. Prayers and wishes
Arabic:
“Allah is sufficient”"‫ﺣﺴﺒﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻭﻧﻌﻢ ﺍﻟﻮﻛﻴﻞ‬
“‘May God forgive you”‫’ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻳﺴﺎﻣﺤﻚ‬
“Thanks to Allah for everything “‫”ﺍﻟﺤﻤﺪﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻛﻞ ﺣﺎﻝ‬
"‫ “ ;" ﺁﻣﻞ ﺍﻥ ﺗﻌﻘﻞ ﻭﺗﺒﻄﻞ ﻭﻟﺪﻧﺔ‬I wish you grow wise and stop childishness”
3. Advice
English:
“But in the future for other students, please note their circumstances”,
“I advise you to become more organized in the future”.
Arabic:
; “you should always keep others’ possessions”"‫" ﻳﺠﺐ ﺍﻥ ﺗﺤﺎﻓﻆ ﺩﺍﺋﻤﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺎ ﻻﻳﺨﺼﻚ‬
"‫ “ ;”ﺍﻧﺼﺤﻚ ﺑﺎﻻﻋﺘﻨﺎﺀ ﺑﺘﺮﺗﻴﺐ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﺩﻣﺔ‬I do advise you to take care in organizing a trip next time”.
"‫ “ ;”ﻻﺯﻣﻜﻢ ﺷﺨﺺ ﺧﺒﻴﺮ‬you are in need of an expert”
4. Irony
“ ‫“ ﻣﺮﻳﺤﻴﻴﻦ ﺍﻧﻔﺴﻜﻢ‬, you made your self more comfortable”.
“"‫“ ;“ﺣﺎﺳﺒﻴﻦ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﺖ ﻭﺻﺎﺣﺒﻪ ﻉ ﺣﺴﺎﺑﻜﻢ‬you considered the house and its owner on your expenses”
“‫“ ;”ﻣﺎﺑﺤﻠﻬﺎ ﺍﻻ ﺍﻧﺖ ﻳﺎﺷﺎﻃﺮ‬no one except you, will solve it ‘
“‫“ﺍﻧﺘﻢ ﻣﻮﺩﺑﻴﻦ ﺟﺪﺍ‬we are very polite”
English:
Very nice friends!
Such a well-organized trip!
Arabic:
; “clever”"‫"ﻓﻬﻴﻢ‬
“‫“ ;”ﺍﻧﺖ ﺍﻓﻀﻞ ﺷﺨﺺ ﺍﻋﺘﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ‬you are the best person whom I could account on”.
5. Rejoinder that does not show any disapproval, i.e. lessening the impact of the action
English:
“Hi, I didn’t mean to disturb you”. “I’m sorry to be a bother”, “I am sorry to trouble you”.
Arabic:
" “‫ ﻻﺗﻬﺘﻢ‬.” ‘ do not worry”.
“, “no problem for Sunday”, “ ."‫"ﻟﻼﺣﺪ ﻣﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺸﻜﻠﺔ‬
" ‫”ﻭ ﺳﺎﺳﺘﻔﻴﺪ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻭﻗﺖ ﺍﺧﺮ‬, “I will benefit from it some other time”
”‫” ﺳﻴﺪﻱ ﻻﺗﻮﻛﻞ ﻫﻢ‬, “Do not worry, Sir”
““‫“ ;ﻋﺴﻰ ﺍﻥ ﺗﻜﺮﻫﻮﺍ ﺷﻲ ﻭﻳﻜﻮﻥ ﻓﻴﻪ ﺧﻴﺮ‬you may hate something but it is good”
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"‫ “ ;”ﻋﺎﺩﻱ ﻓﺪﺍﻛﻢ ﻣﺎﺻﺎﺭ ﺷﻲ‬it is normal, it is for your sake, nothing happened”.
6. Request for explanation and justification

English:
“Would you be able to help me by perhaps explaining why?”, “What did I do that was unsatisfactory?”, “Why have you
given me an unfair report?” “I would like to discuss the report you have written about me”.
Arabic:
“Please, explain to me what my fault was’."‫“ "ﻟﻮﺳﻤﺤﺖ ﻣﻤﻜﻦ ﺗﺸﺮﺣﻠﻲ ﺷﻮ ﻏﻠﻄﻲ‬
‫ “;ﻣﻤﻜﻦ ﺗﻮﺿﺤﻠﻲ ﻟﻴﺶ ﻋﻼﻣﺘﻲ ﻫﻴﻚ""ﺍﺫﺍ ﻣﺎﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﺍﺯﻋﺎﺝ‬If there is no inconvenience,
7. Exclamation:
English:
“Oh my God!”, “Gosh!”
Arabic:
“!‫”ﻳﺎﻟﻠﻪ‬, “Oh my God”
"!‫ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻌﻘﻮﻝ‬, ‫“ ﻳﺎﺍﻟﻬﻲ‬Oh God, unbelievable!
It seems that performing the speech act of complaint involves a variety of semantic strategies which vary in their degree
of severity on the addressee’s face. Though the results revealed that the English natives used more strategies for
expressing their complaints compared to their Jordanian counterparts, no statistically significant differences were found
between both native groups in the number of the strategies used. Figure 1 shows the distributions of the overall
complaints strategy use by both groups. It is evident that English natives employed more strategies (438 semantic
expressions) whereas the Jordanian participants utilized (429 semantic expressions) strategies in all social situations.
This could be referred to the Jordanians’ higher use of the opting out strategy compared to the English which prevent
them from using any other supporting strategies. The data agree with Al-Omari (2008) in that the use of opting out
could be considered a polite strategy by Arabs to avoid an imposition and confrontations that may possibly disturb their
harmony with others. This sounds a possibly logical reason for cutting their conversation in confrontational situations
short by using no complaints expressions which may sound as an effective face-threatening speech act.
Figure 1. Overall frequency of all strategies for NSsA and NSsE in all situations
Table 1 shows that there are no significant differences in number of strategies used for expressing complaints by both
native groups in all the social situations as p-value was found (.404).
IJALEL 5(5):197-207, 2016 204
Table 1. T-test result of the differences in number of strategies used for expressing complaints by
both native groups
No. of complaints Levene's Test for t-test for Equality of Means
strategies Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
Difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances
2.914 .092 -.840- 68 .404 -.25714- .30600 -.86776- .35348
assumed
Equal variances
-.840- 62.190 .404 -.25714- .30600 -.86880- .35451
not assumed
With regard to the types of the complaining strategies both groups used, Figure 2 shows the tendency of the English
participants to use more direct strategies than their Jordanian counterparts. They tended to use FTA expressions with
explicit reference to the complainable matter and the person using the second person pronoun (i.e. you) mainly to
instigate an action. The total number of strategies shows that the strategies of expressing general annoyance or
disapproval (e.g. ‘I think my grade was too low’) and direct redress request (e.g. ‘you have to pay it yourself’; “I would
highly appreciate if you would reconsider my low grade’ were the most employed strategies among all strategies. The
least employed strategies by both groups were giving advice (e.g. “I see you have to be more organized in the coming
trips”) and irony (‘a very amazing trip!’). This finding is not in congruence with Olshtain and Weinbach (1987: 203)
who conclude that there is a “distinct bulging in the center and lessening of usage at the two extremes of the scale”.
They found that speakers favor the use of disapproval, complaints, and accusation, which are situated at the center of
the directness scale, below the level of reproach and threat, which are positioned at the extreme ends of the scale. With
regard to direct redress request, the analysed expressions can be classified, adopting Chen, et.al.(2011) and Blum-Kulka
et.al. (1989) into hedged preformative, i.e. “Utterance whose illocutionary verb expressing the requisite intention is
modified by modal verb”, such as: “I would like you to revise my mark” and want statement “i.e. the utterances which
express the speaker’s desire for the hearer to carry out the act”, such as: “I want you to respect yourself and others”
(Blum-Kulka, et al. 1989: 18). It could be argued that hedged performative linguistic form sounds more polite as it
reflects the value of solidarity politeness and politeness through facial expression. However, differences of how
interlocutors perceive these two strategies whether as polite or impolite depend largely on the context including their
social relationship.
Figure 2. Complaining strategies
English employed accusing and warning (e.g. “I warn you to stop such bad behavior” as well as exclamation (‘e.g. what
have you done?! ’’ ) more than Jordanians) e.g.(!‫) ﻣﺎﻫﺬﺍ؟‬
IJALEL 5(5):197-207, 2016 205
In addition, the strategy of immediate threat was approximately used by both groups the same (e.g. “take care and get
yourself out now", "‫“"ﺩﺑﺮﺣﺎﻟﻚ ﻭﺧﻠﺼﻬﺎ ﺍﻻﻥ‬
,“;I will not deal with you anymore”"‫ “ﺳﺎﻭﺑﺨﻚ ﺍﻻﻥ‬I will reprimand you now”; “
This may imply the inclination of English to be more frank in conveying their complaints.
“I say nothing”),"‫ ﻷﻗﻮﻝ ﺷﻲ‬On the other hand, Jordanians tend to opt out (e.g.
Allahmake me patient” ), give advice (e.g. ‫“ﺍ‬may“,‫ﻟﻠﻪ ﻳﺼﺒﺮﻧﻲ‬employ prayer (e.g. ‫ “ ;ﻻﺯﻡ‬your affairs need to be more
organized next time”);"‫"ﺗﻨﻈﻤﻮﺍ ﺍﻣﻮﺭﻛﻢ ﺍﻛﺜﺮ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﺩﻣﺔ‬
use a rejoinder that does not show explicit disapproval and dissatisfaction (e.g.
“, “it is not important, many of such issues happen”; “‫ﻛﺜﻴﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻻﻣﻮﺭ ﺗﺤﺪﺙ ﻣﺶ ﻣﻬﻢ‬,”
"request for explanation and justification more than their English counterparts(e.g.
“; “explain to me how this happened”.‫”ﻓﻬﻤﻨﻲ ﻛﻴﻒ ﺻﺎﺭ ﻫﻴﻚ‬
This may indicate the tendency of Jordanians to be indirect in conveying their complaints. Table 2 shows significant
differences in the use of certain semantic strategies for expressing complaints by both groups in all the social situations.
Significant differences were found in employing the strategy of opting out (p< .000), expressing general annoyance and
disapproval (p< .029), direct request for repair (p< .000), giving advice (p< .000), irony (p< .003), a rejoinder that does
not show any disapproval (p< .004), in conveying their complaints. Both groups are statistically indistinguishable in
their use of “accusing and warning”, “immediate threat”, “request for explanation” and “exclamation”.
Table 2. T-test results of the significant differences in the use of semantic strategies for expressing complaints by both
groups
Levene's Test for -test for Equality of Means

Equality of Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval of
tailed) Difference Difference the Difference
Lower Upper
Opting out Equal variances 1.957 .166 6.056 68 .000 .68571 .11323 .45977 .91166
assumed
Equal variances 6.056 60.643 .000 .68571 .11323 .45927 .91216
not assumed
annoyan Equal variances 3.907 .052 -2.228- 68 .029 -.57143- .25649 -1.08324- -.05961-
assumed
Equal variances -2.228- 65.273 .029 -.57143- .25649 -1.08363- -.05923-
not assumed
request Equal variances 55.277 .000 -7.869- 68 .000 -1.88571- .23965 -2.36392- -1.40750-
assumed
Equal variances -7.869- 48.807 .000 -1.88571- .23965 -2.36735- -1.40408-
not assumed
accusing Equal variances .922 .340 -.488- 68 .627 -.11429- .23397 -.58117- .35259
assumed
Equal variances -.488- 67.932 .627 -.11429- .23397 -.58117- .35260
not assumed
threat Equal variances .000 1.000 .000 68 1.000 .00000 .11882 -.23710- .23710
assumed
Equal variances .000 68.000 1.000 .00000 .11882 -.23710- .23710
not assumed
advice Equal variances 30.222 .000 4.123 68 .000 .42857 .10394 .22115 .63599
assumed
Equal variances 4.123 61.200 .000 .42857 .10394 .22074 .63641
not assumed
irony Equal variances 43.033 .000 3.115 68 .003 .31429 .10090 .11295 .51562
assumed
Equal variances 3.115 58.005 .003 .31429 .10090 .11232 .51625
not assumed
nodisap Equal variances 33.428 .000 3.010 68 .004 .31429 .10440 .10595 .52262
assumed
Equal variances 3.010 60.983 .004 .31429 .10440 .10551 .52306
not assumed
explain Equal variances 46.878 .000 1.090 68 .280 .25714 .23601 -.21381- .72810
assumed
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Equal variances 1.090 47.803 .281 .25714 .23601 -.21744- .73173
not assumed
exclam Equal variances 38.017 .000 -1.108- 68 .272 -.20000- .18044 -.56005- .16005
assumed
Equal variances -1.108- 51.875 .273 -.20000- .18044 -.56209- .16209
not assumed
The findings suggest that cultural variation in conveying complaints is due to the high degree of sensitivity to the
interplay of several social and contextual variables. Such differences were analyzed considering the variation of the
choice of the type of complaint strategy in light of an interplay between some social and contextual factors. In other
words, the data revealed that the English participants were more direct in most of the situations than their Jordanian
counterparts who resort more to opting out strategy, giving advice and using a rejoinder that does not show any
disapproval toward in-group interlocutors (i.e. family, friends etc.) and out-group interlocutors of a high social status
(i.e. complaining to a professor)and more direct strategies when to complaining to out-group interlocutors of low social
familiarity and low social status (i.e. stranger, administrator). This could be ascribed to the strong social ties between
the Jordanian society members (i.e. brothers and sisters) and the significance of the social status being described as a
stratified society (Al-Khatib, 2001). The high use of prayers by Jordanian participants compared to their British
counterparts could be ascribed to the impact of religion on language use (i.e. the strong belief in Allah).
The data were also analyzed in light of amount of mitigation. It was found that Jordanians used more opening formulae
such as greeting “AsslamoAlycom; Hello” besides the address terms such as “Sir, dear, brother” and establishing and
explaining the context (e.g. ‫“;”ﻟﻘﺪ ﻃﻠﺐ ﻋﻤﻞ ﺳﺒﻌﺔ ﻧﺴﺦ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺸﺮﻭﻉ ﻳﻮﻡ ﺍﻻﺛﻨﻴﻦ‬I placed an order for 7 copies of my project on
Monday” compared to their British counterparts who used more softeners and mitigations such as excusing self for
imposition (e.g. Excuse me for interrupting you, please, I wonder…., you could…, I think you should’. The use of lots
of mitigations and expressions of complaints particularly the indirect expressions (i.e. opting out, rejoinder that lessens
the impact of the action, giving advice) could very often have been caused by their desire to be cautious considering the
various social and contextual variables. Thus, it could be argued that expressing mitigated complaints may not be
viewed as intrinsically face-threatening acts rather it may be claimed that expressing complaints should be viewed as a
way of establishing and sustaining social relationships as opposed to Brown and Levinson’s (1987) claim. They may
function as a kind of phatic communion that helps promoting solidarity between the interlocutors (i.e. complainer and
complainee). Thus, the data is in line Olshtain and Weinbach (1993) and Trosborg (1995) who found that making a
complaint serves two major purposes; besides expressing negative attitudes including frustration or disapproval toward
the bad action executed by the complainee, it also helps the complainee to refrain from the bad behaviours or to
reimburse for the damages he/she has caused. This could explain the use of both direct and indirect expressions of
complaints simultaneously sometimes in the same situations. The order in which the components of the expression of
complaints are performed could also reveal some variation and significant implications for future research.
The findings also support Bardovi-Harlig and Griffin (2005) in asserting that although people from cultures and
speaking different languages may employ somehow similar types of strategies for realizing the communicative act of
complaining, what counts as appropriate expression of complaints in certain situation and in specific speech community
varies from culture to culture. The finding also lends support to Yu’s results that the strategy preferences of the speakers
are subject to “a culture’s ethos and its own specific way of speaking” (2003: 1704). This is because cultural values and
believes are often reflected in the content represented by a certain strategy. Based on the data, it could be argued that
through using more direct complaints expressions, the English participants asserts the notion of social equality where
social power has less impact. In contrast, the stress of the Jordanian participants on the use of more indirect various
complaints expressions depending on the social status of the interlocutor could indicate that the social power variable
may be an overriding influence in Jordanian society.
The results may point to the difficulties that nonnative speakers may face when complaining about an issue to naive
speakers. In other words, speakers of different cultures are observed to unintentionally bring into communications some
culture-associated assumptions, norms and pragmatic rules (i.e. pragmatic transfer), which is probably the source of
unintended impressions, which in turn may lead to un-favored results (i.e. communication misjudgment, cultural
conflicts; pragmatic failure).Accordingly, the findings of this research study may serve as guidance for teaching English
as a second language to British English and Jordanian Arabic speakers. It also suggests that it is necessary for language
teachers and learners to be fully aware of the cultural differences between English and Jordanian’s expression of
complaints.
7. Conclusion and recommendation
The study revealed cross-cultural difference in the types of expressions used for conveying complaints by both British
English and Jordanian Arabic speakers. Whereas British English tended to use more expressions of general annoyance
and disapproval, request for direct repair, as well as accusation and threat, the use of opting out, prayers and advice
were the characteristics of the Jordanian Arabic speakers’ expression of complaints. The differences were analyzed
considering the interplay between cultural, social and contextual variables.
In order to verify and generalize these findings, this research can be replicated by conducting a study on a large sample
and some other different social situations. The data of this study was based only on written elicited data i.e. it only
represented what the participants would say in a particular situation. Thus, more authentic contexts –based studies are
IJALEL 5(5):197-207, 2016 207
needed to make more certain conclusions about the communication of complaint in Jordan and England. More studies
are needed to investigate the impact of some other social variables (i.e. age, gender and socio-economic backgrounds of
interlocutors). Pragmatic transfer, as it applies to complaining by Jordanian English learners, needs to be investigated
further.
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Gender Differences and Foreign Language Reading Anxiety of

High School Learners in an Iraqi EFL Context
Ahmed Abdulateef Sabti (Corresponding author)
English Department, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
YM Tenku Mazuwana Binti T. Mansor

Mohammed Qasim Altikriti

English Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
Hussein Fahim Abdalhussein

English Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
Saad Sameer Dhari


Abstract
Over the past two decades Investigation of foreign language anxiety generally has progressively caught the attention of
numerous investigators in the area of foreign language. Yet, anxiety variable that affects the students’ acquisition of
particular language skills for instance, reading specifically have actually seldom been investigated in the context of EFL
Arab learners in particular with Iraqi students. So, the study aimed to investigate the influence of anxiety variable
towards reading comprehension of Iraqi high school learners. This study also sought to examine the gender differences
towards reading language anxiety. Quantitative approach was applied in this research, which involved 20 Iraqi students
of a high school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The respondents comprised 10 males and 10 females with ages between
16 years and 18 years. This study made use of Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS). The results of the
study showed that both male and female participants had a high level of anxiety towards the reading comprehension.
Furthermore, the analysis revealed that gender played a slight role in the results of the study. Female students showed a
slightly higher level of anxiety towards the reading comprehension than their male counterparts. Iraqi learners need to
be exposed to the four skills of English language generally and the reading skill in particular. This exposure makes the
learners aware of the four skills (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) that need to be acquired and also to
decrease the rate of anxiety variable in addition to its influence on their performance.
Keywords: Gender Differences, High school learners, Foreign language reading anxiety, Iraqi EEL context
1. Introduction
There is a growing problem on the decreasing level of reading comprehension in the academic setting. According to
Perie et al. (2005), The National Assessment of Educational Progress observes that there is a decrease in the reading
comprehension level in the period between 2003 and 2005. Meanwhile, Siti Hamin (1998) and Sabti (2013) mentioned
that many researchers and educators cited anxiety as the major factor to the decline of students’ academic achievement
in the EFL/ESL contexts. Brown (2007) also reported that anxiety variable is a major affective factor in the second or
foreign language acquisition.
In the meantime, an individual’s literacy level is crucial as it can directly affect his chances in employment and his
career progress. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] (2008) mentioned that a high
IJALEL 5(5):208-214, 2016 209
literacy level would definitely help to increase one’s quality of life as it will open up more career opportunities. Hence,
educators strive to increase the literacy level of the learners into the most optimum since there is a close connection
between academic achievement and literacy. Meanwhile as argued by Grove & Hauptfleisch (1982) and Moreillan
(2007), literacy now not only refers to the ability to read and write but also the ability to understand and analyse what is
being read. Thus, students with reading difficulties are not able to perform in a conventional learning environment, even
if they are as capable as their class mates. In most cases, students with reading difficulties are not able to read according
to their grade, and they feel de-motivated to read as they feel anxious and depressed because they are not able to
perform like their other classmates. Bender (2012) mentioned that these students are labeled as ‘not performing’ and
‘weak’ as they progress into their schooling and are not able to get the sufficient help to resolve their problems as they
try to adapt into the conventional classroom.
According to Alexander and Jetton (2000), an important aim for reading instructions in the high school level is to teach
comprehension of different text genres. In this level, there is a wide range of materials that the students are expected to
read in order to help them gain more knowledge and literacy experiences. Therefore, as argued in Gottfried (1990), Hidi
and Harackiewicz (2000), and Wigfield and Guthrie (1997), the level of reading comprehension is significantly related
to the reading motivation in the elementary grades. Hence, reading anxiety is examined as a potential catalyst of reading
comprehension and its ability to predict the growth of the students’ reading comprehension level over time.
In the learning process, language anxiety is a complex psychological construct which is regarded as an affective
variable (Lien, 2011). It is believed that language anxiety is linked to the students’ performance, and it interferes with
their language competence. This had been well examined by many studies carried out by (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope,
1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989 and Sellers, 2000). Many such researchers have focused on the effects of language
anxiety on listening or speaking activities in the language classroom (Horwitz et al., 1986; Phillips, 1992; Price, 1991;
Young, 1991). On the hand, other researchers such as (Mohd. Zin & Rafik-Galea, 2010; Saito, Horwitz, & Garza, 1999
and Sellers, 2000), focused on how anxiety can hinder comprehension in reading and listening among foreign language
(FL) learners where such affective variables could be the contributing factors for the decline of reading performance.
Meanwhile, some researchers (Saito et al., 1999; Capan & Karaca, 2013; Zhao et al., 2013 & Al-Shboul et al., 2013),
argued that reading anxiety in FL is different from the general FL anxiety and concluded that students with a higher
reading anxiety would have a lower level of reading comprehension and vice versa. Onwuegbuzie et al. (1999) refer to
some factors that may cause anxiety in learning a foreign language. These include age, academic achievement, previous
experiences in visiting foreign countries, prior high school experiences with foreign languages, expected outcomes of
language courses, perceived scholastic competence, and perceived self-worth. Similarly, motivation efforts and the
learners’ current English proficiency can also significantly affect one’s level of anxiety (Wu, 2010). In addition, similar
to Onwuegbuzie et al., (1999) the study also mentioned factors like age, gender, occupation, experiences in language,
and time spent on studying the language outside the classroom. All these factors have fundamental roles in determining
the mastery of the language as well as to either increase or decrease the anxiety level.
On the other hand, factors leading to anxiety might slightly differ from one context to another. So, this study aimed to
address the gap in the literature to investigated language anxiety in the context of Arab learners, particularly among
Iraqi learners. The majority of the Iraqi students do not have a high proficiency in English language (Sabti, 2013). This
creates an obstacle leading to numerous difficulties in their studies. Therefore, this group of students keep on
experiencing anxiety in reading foreign language texts and suffering from declining in their grades in addition to poor
their performance in their studies. Hence, this creates a need for a study to investigate the phenomenon of anxiety in
learning a foreign language in the context of Iraqi high school learners. In line with this, this research focused on the
relationship between reading comprehension and anxiety to investigate the levels of the Iraqi high school students’
anxiety towards reading comprehension. Plus, this study shed the light on gender differences to identify reading anxiety
between male and female participants. Sabti and Chaichan (2014) indicate that gender is a key variable that might
influence the findings of a study.
1.2 EFL Reading Anxiety and EFL Reading Performance
Some researchers reported that there is a connection between both EFL reading anxiety variable and EFL reading
performance. Precisely, the study of Shi and Liu (2006) revealed that EFL reading anxiety rate was correlated
negatively with scores for two tests, namely English test of a large scale and a test of English reading among Chinese
EFL learners, in China. Another study by Sellers (2000) disclosed that students with a high anxiety level have the
tendency to employ more local strategies. In fact, these students focused more on vocabulary and remembered less
passage content than their less anxious counterparts. Instead, some researchers reported that there is no significant
connection between EFL reading anxiety and EFL reading performance (Brantmeier, 2005; Mills et al., 2006). Their
ambiguous findings revealed that the relationship between reading performance and EFL reading anxiety could be
affected by the types of reading tasks and the difficulty level of the reading text. Brantmeier (2005) indicated that there
is an insignificant relationship between reading performance and EFL reading anxiety because the students were aware
of the tasks in their reading performance. Furthermore, Mills et al. (2006) claimed that the insignificant relationship
between reading performance and EFL reading anxiety is due to the simplicity of reading tasks (MacIntyre & Gardner,
1991; Spielberger, 1966).
2. Methodology
IJALEL 5(5):208-214, 2016 210
The current research is based on the quantitative approach to investigate the anxiety of Iraqi students toward reading
comprehension in an Iraqi high school in Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia. One questionnaire instrument, namely ‘Foreign
Language Reading Anxiety Scale’ (FLRAS) was used to collect the data.
Quantitative research is particularly designed to produce accurate and reliable measurements that allow to statistical
analysis (Poon, 2005). Figure 1, displays a diagram of the present research design.
Study
Quantitative FLRAS Objectives
Approach
Figure 1. Research design of quantitative approach for the FLRAS instrument
2.1 Participants
In the present study, the gender is controlled as a key variable. The sample of study comprised of 20 Iraqi EFL students
from an Iraqi public school in Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia. They were all from the last two grades in the school. The
students of the two grades were chosen to achieve the study objectives. Among the participants, 10 were males and 10
were females whose ages ranged from 16 years to 18 years. Permission was obtained and granted by the principal of the
selected school to conduct the research.
2.2 Instrument
Only one questionnaire instrument used to collect the data in this study is ‘Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale’
(FLRAS). Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale’ (FLRAS) indicates to the apprehension and frustration feelings of
a learner when he fails in comprehending a text in the EFL/ESL contexts. This questionnaire was designed by Saito et
al. (1999) and consisted of 20 items and each item is answered on a five-point Likert-type scale. These items were built
to measure the anxiety level of students toward reading comprehension. The researchers did not make a pilot
application due to the measures indicated a high internal reliability and a high validity across the study of Saito et al.,
(1999). They reported an alpha coefficient of .86 for internal consistency in the FLRAS.
The rating of FLRAS items is on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from (strongly disagree) to (strongly agree). Yet, the
items such as (12, 13, 14, and 18) were worded positively and need an inverse scoring. The overall score is 20 to 100
for the theoretical range. High scores on FLRAS for the participants refer to a high reading anxiety rate and the low
scores mean a low reading anxiety rate.
2.3 Procedures
The FLRAS was administered to the participants on one day and as aforementioned the participants came from two
different grades. One researcher being a teacher of the participants, distributed the questionnaire to the participants and
supervised the application of the questionnaire until the participants finished in case there would be some questions.
2.4 Data analysis
Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) was distributed to disclose the level of the students towards their
reading anxiety. Firstly, the statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyze the data which
included the use of Frequency Test to determine the levels of the participants’ anxiety towards their reading
comprehension. In addition, Independent-Sample T-Test was also used to demonstrate the gender differences towards
the students’ reading anxiety.
3. Results
3.1 Frequency Test to measure the students’ anxiety level
The results of the Frequency Test revealed that the anxiety level of the respondents. The results showed that the
majority of the respondents had a high level of reading anxiety. Twelve respondents had the tendency to choose the
scale (agree) with a percentage of (87.3%). The scale “agree” indicates that the respondents feel anxious when they are
involved in the reading skills.
Table 1. Level of Anxiety

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Extremely Disagree 0 0 0 0
Disagree 2 3.2 10.0 10.0
Uncertain 3 4.8 15.0 25.0
Agree 12 87.3 60.0 85.0
Extremely Agree 3 4.8 15.0 100.0
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Total 20 100.0 100.0
Figure 2, lists the results of the Frequency Test. Generally, percentage is 87.3%. In fact, the respondents tend to have a
high level of anxiety towards reading comprehension. From the figure 2., it can be concluded that the results of the
Frequency Test imply that most respondents selected the option ‘agree’.
Figure 2. Anxiety level of the participants
3.2 Independent Samples T-Test to measure the gender differences

The results of Independent Samples T-Test for the gender differences of the respondents with reading anxiety. The
relationship between FLRAS and gender analyzed by the independent t-test showed a trivial correlation between the
reading anxiety level of the participants and their gender irrespective of their grade level (See Table 2). The Table
showed that female participants had high anxiety (M=3.90, SD= .994) who scored slightly higher than the male
participants (M=3.40, SD .674). Based on the results of the independent samples t-test, t(18) = -526, p = .605, the
significant value was higher than alpha at .05 level of significance. The results demonstrate that the participants both
male and female tended to have a high level of anxiety. However, female participants tended to have a slightly higher
anxiety level than their male counterparts. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a slight difference between
female and male participants in relation to the level of anxiety.
Table 2. Foreign Language Reading Anxiety and Gender

GENDER N Mean Std. Deviation t p
Female 10 3.9000 .99443 .526 .605
LEVEL OF
ANXIETY Male 10 3.4000 .67495
These findings indicate that both male and female respondents showed high anxiety, but males were less low anxious
(3.4000) towards reading comprehension than their female counterparts (3.9000). Figure 3 refers to the diagram
regarding the male participants to be less anxious than the female participants. Consequently, female respondents
tended to have a slightly high anxiety than their male counterparts towards reading comprehension. The percentages of
male and female participants in the high-anxiety group are close to each other relatively and respectively.
Figure 3. Gender Differences
4. Discussion
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Language anxiety is viewed as a crucial factor in reading comprehension. The present study analyzes EFL learners’
reading anxiety level and gender differences. The results showed that the FLRAS scores were negatively to the
participants with more reading anxiety. The participants of both male and female showed a high level of anxiety
towards reading comprehension. Thus, the present study is in line with the three studies conducted by Zhao et al.
(2013), Al-Shboul et al. (2013), and Capan & Karaca (2013). The study of by Zhao et al. (2013) was conducted on an
English-speaking university students learning Chinese as a foreign language (n =114) in the United States. The other
two studies were carried out by Al-Shboul et al. (2013) on six Jordanian EFL students at Yarmouk University, Jordan,
and Capan & Karaca (2013) on 159 undergraduate students at a university in Turkey. The three studies showed that the
participants exhibited a high level of anxiety towards reading comprehension. Therefore, the researchers of these studies
elucidated via their findings that the participants suffered a lot due to the anxiety phenomenon. This phenomenon might
contribute to affect the students’ performance in their learning process generally and their reading skill in particular.
Learners may possibly have a fear of missing some points in the sentences of the writer. That is, it is a misconception
that it is necessary to comprehend every single word. In this case, when they miss one or two words or phrases, it could
drive them to the feelings of discomfort and fear. The comprehension is therefore inhibited in the reading tasks. This
could be that learners are not exposed to or unaware of the four skills of English language. Because Iraqi syllabus does
not focus on the four skills. It only focuses on grammar structures and limited with sentences level (Sabti, 2013). Hence,
this steers to cause some obstacles for the students to be unacquainted with the reading skill in particular and other skills
generally. In addition, teachers do not provide chances to the students to read or practice the English skills (Sabti,
2013). This considers a second hindrance to provoke anxiety variable to the students.
The relationship between FLRAS and gender was analyzed by the independent t-test. The results showed there is a
minor correlation between the learners' levels of reading anxiety and their gender. It was found that gender played a
trivial role in reading anxiety by displaying female participants with a higher anxiety level compared to their male
counterparts. To be more precise, male participants were just a little more courageous than female participants because
they had a slightly lower anxiety level. This finding showed an inconsistency with Shariati & Bordbar’s (2011) study by
their reporting (2011: 197) that gender did not play a contributing factor in their reading activities. Another study
accomplished by Capan & Karaca (2013) also presented different findings to the current study that there is no
significant correlation between the participants’ level of reading anxiety to the participants’ gender whereas the present
study showed the opposite, yet with a slight difference between the gender.
The present study has declared that the anxiety variable and frustrations in the reading skill may possibly be the result
of extreme and unsuitable stress, tension and shyness on superficial errors in spelling and pronouncing English words.
Hence, the relationship between anxiety levels and the participants referred to a false-comfort feeling since they have
insufficient knowledge regarding the target language. This might be attributed to the lack of practice and experience in
the target language. The anxiety levels in this case might probably deteriorate considerably due to the deficiency of
practices and experiences with the target language. So, it is a vital role for learners to be good at self-rating their reading
anxiety levels and to have the awareness of the great influence of anxiety not only on their performance but also in
educational setting. The growth in their ability and raise their familiarity and confidence in the target language could
explain the decrease in their reading anxiety levels.
5. Conclusion
To sum up, foreign language reading anxiety had a negative influence on the performance and attitudes of students
towards their reading comprehension. Readers with a high anxiety level always show a low confidence level to enjoy
the content of the reading texts. While they are involved in the reading skill, they might have an interest to obtain the
meanings of unfamiliar and unused words and sentences. It is true that the grasp of the meanings of words or sentences
will reduce their anxiety and steer them to feel secured in their reading skill. However, teachers might be a more
effective factor in reducing learners’ anxiety, because readers have a high level of confidence and relaxation when they
possess the ability to grasp the complete picture of a reading text by the way of guessing or the use of their background
knowledge. Therefore, instructors or teachers need to present strategies of holistic reading to develop and foster reading
confidence of the students to reduce their anxiety in addition to improve the performance of reading skill and language
proficiency of students.
Moreover, gender differences were determined in this study but with a slight difference. EFL female Iraqi learners were
at a higher anxiety level than males with a slightly lower anxiety level, rather, females had the tendency with a high
anxiety compared to males. Thus, it gives the impression for EFL instructors and teachers to teach more and guide their
students specially females to practice in order to reduce their reading anxiety such as analysis of the texts in critical
method, trying to guess the meaning of new and unfamiliar words, use of context clues, and background knowledge.
Hence, this may probably strengthen and increase the level of confidence of the learners in addition to give them full
picture of each text towards their reading skill.
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Appendix A
Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale
(Saito, Horwitz, & Garza, 1999)
Directions: Statements 1 through 20 refer to how you feel about reading English while you are doing extensive reading.
For each statement, please indicate whether you (1) strongly agree, (2) agree, (3) neither agree nor disagree, (4)
disagree, or (5) strongly disagree by marking the appropriate number on the line following each statement. Please give
your first reaction to each statement and mark an answer for each statement.
Value 1 2 3 4 5
Answer Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
No Statements SD D N A SA
1 I get upset when I'm not sure whether I understand what I am reading in English.
2 When reading English, I often understand the words but still can't quite
understand what the author is saying.
3 When I'm reading English, I get so confused I can't remember what I'm reading
4 I feel intimidated whenever I see a whole page of English in front of me.
5 I am nervous when I am reading a passage in English when I am not familiar
with the topic.
6 I get upset whenever I encounter unknown grammar when reading English.
7 When reading English, I get nervous and confused when I don't understand
every word.
8 It bothers me to encounter words I can't pronounce while reading English.
9 I usually end up translating word by word when I'm reading English.
10 By the time you get past the funny letters and symbols in English, it's hard to
remember what you're reading about.
11 I am worried about all the new symbols you [I] have to learn in order to read
English.
12 I enjoy reading English.
13 I feel confident when I am reading in English.
14 Once you get used to it, reading English is not so difficult.
15 The hardest part of learning English is learning to read.
16 I would be happy just to learn to speak English rather than having to learn to
read as well.
17 I don't mind reading to myself, but I feel very uncomfortable when I have to
read English aloud.
18 I am satisfied with the level of reading ability in English that I have achieved so
far.
19 English culture and ideas seem very foreign to me
20 You have to know so much about English history and culture in order to read
English.
Exploring the Textual Metafunction in a Biblical-Fictional

Parable in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross
Yémalo C. Amoussou (Corresponding author)
Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Abomey-Calavi
05-P.O.Box 897, Place Lénine, COTONOU, Republic of Bénin

Abstract
This paper explores the textual metafunctional patterns in two fictional versions of a Biblical Parable in Ngũgĩ wa
Thiong’o’s novel Devil on the Cross (1982) in order to find the similarities and differences between their compositional
features. It critically draws on the theory of systemic functional linguistics expounded by specialists like Halliday
(1994), Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) and Eggins (2004) to overview the theoretical background to the study, with
focus on the grammar of textual meaning, proposes a new Theme classification and uses it to analyze the Thematic
structure and taxis system of the two extracts. The researcher has come to the conclusion that, though they are initially
spoken, these texts show such interesting textual-meaning properties as the density of ellipsis, of circumstantial and
interpersonal thematization, of taxis and rank shift that they should be qualified to belong to both spoken and written
mode of discourse.
Keywords: textual metafunction, Theme, ellipsis, foregrounding, parataxis, hypotaxis
1. Introduction
It is well-known that the Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o heavily draws on the Bible for his literary composition,
namely in terms of characterization by description and speech (Ngara, 1985; Amoussou, 2011, 2015). Indeed, in most
of his novels, the writer enrolls his characters after figures from the Bible and Kenyan politics by making them talk or
think the Bible without any forewarning to the readers. This is exactly what happens in his fifth novel Devil on the
Cross (1982) when two fictional characters, a socialist-inclined one (text1) and a capitalist-inclined one (text2), draw on
Matthew 25: 14-46 to speak, first to a group taxi-boarders and then to an assembly of ‘robbers’ or ‘capitalists’. While
text1 is a near word-for-word reproduction of the source text, text2 is a fictional adaptation of it.
This article analyses the Theme patterns and logical relations in the two texts in order to reveal their major
characteristics. Such an endeavor falls within the realm of the grammar of textual meaning/THEME. Following the
tradition of the Prague School linguists, the word ‘Theme/Thematic’ is written with a capital initial as a label for ‘the
textual functional constituent’ (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 64) but it is fully capitalized when it refers to the whole
grammar or when used to display the ‘Thematic structure’ of clauses (Eggins, 1994).
2. Theoretical Framework: Textual Metafunction, Thematic Structure and Taxis
Of the three language functions –the experiential, the interpersonal, and the textual– advocated in Systemic Functional
Linguistics (SFL)– the last one plays a vital part in the expression of the first two. Matthiessen (1995) alludes to this
hinge role of the textual metafunction in writing:
The textual metafunction allows the ideational and interpersonal features of a text to be understood by the
speaker/writer and listener/reader: It has a distinctive part to play in the overall creation of meaning –one
that is oriented specifically towards the creation of meaning in the realm of semiotics (p.20).
In fact, the textual meaning refers to the one that comes from the way a piece of writing or speech is organized or
structured; it is the meaning about how what is being said hangs together and relates to what has been said before and
the context around the interactants. In short, it basically has to do with Thematic structure, cohesion and coherence, as
opined by Wang (2010: 256):
The textual function refers to the fact that language has mechanisms to make any stretch of spoken or
written discourse into a coherent and unified text and make a living passage different from a random
list of sentences. Although two sentences may have exactly the same ideational and interpersonal
functions, they may be different in terms of textual coherence” (my emphasis).
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This function relates to the register variable of ‘mode/mode of discourse’, a term used to designate the role language
plays in an interaction and the amount of feedback: whether it is spoken or written; if it is spoken, it is either formal or
casual conversation, and if written, it either every day or technical language. This influences language use as it is not
used in the same way to speak as to write. The grammar of textual meaning or THEME (Eggins, 2004: 296) or ‘the
grammar of the clause as a message’ (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 64) has thus to do with the structuring of the
message in terms of what is its departure point – the Theme, and what is being said/done about that departure point–the
Rheme. Eggins (2004: 298) argues that this function is expressed through two key systems: ‘Thematic Structure and
Information Structure’, the former having to do with the organization/division of the clause into its Theme-Rheme
constituents and the latter with its organization into its Given-New ones drawing on intonation choices (Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004: 87-92).
The ‘Theme-Rheme’ distinction is often blurred for its relation to the traditional grammarians' division of the sentence
into ‘subject + predicate’ on the one hand (Walsh & Walsh, 1966; Quirk, et al., 1972) and the functional structuralists’
practice of breaking information structure into ‘Given-New’ on the other (Brown & Yule, 1988; Martin, 1992;
Matthiessen, 1995; Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). While the existence of three different types of
subjects (grammatical, logical and psychological) can lead to the ‘Subject-Theme’ confusion (Hasan & Fries, 1995;
Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 53-62; Eggins, 2004: 136), the habitual occurrence of both the ‘Theme’ and the ‘Given’
in the initial position makes the ‘Theme-Given’ distinction much fuzzier (Brown and Yule, 1988; Halliday &
Matthiessen, 2004). Brown and Yule (1988: 154) simply argue that ‘Given’ refers to what is already known or
predictable by the reader/listener while ‘New’ refers to what is not”. Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) offer a definition
that can help to distinguish between the information structure, i.e., ‘Given+ New’, and Thematic structure, i.e., ‘Theme
+Rheme’:
Though they are related, ‘Given + New’ and ‘Theme+ Rheme’ are not the same thing. The Theme is
what I, the speaker, choose to take as my point of departure. The Given is what you, the listener,
already know or have accessible to you. ‘Theme+ Rheme’ is speaker-oriented, whereas ‘Given + New’
is listener-oriented (p. 93, my emphasis).
Even then, both the ‘Given’ and the ‘Theme’ largely depend on the writer’s/speaker’s assumption as to what
reader/listener already knows or can easily recuperate from the context. Indeed, both are selected by the speaker/writer
depending on his/her particular psychological concern or angle of vision (Brown &Yule, 1988). That is certainly why
Halliday and Matthiessen (2004: 55) see the Theme in terms of ‘psychological subject’.
In addition, there is some confusion from one scholar to another regarding the ‘Theme-Given’ hierarchy and the
‘Rheme-New’ one. For instance, Halliday and Matthiessen (2004: 93) argue that ‘the Theme falls within the Given and
the New within the Rheme” while Eggins (2004: 229, 300) contends that ‘the Theme typically contains familiar, or
‘given’ information and that “the Rheme typically contains unfamiliar, or ‘new’, information” (my emphasis). Even the
conceptual definitions cannot at times help to clear the fog. Such definitions of ‘the Theme’ as ‘the point of departure of
the sentence’, ‘the left-most constituent of the clause or sentence’, ‘the starting point of the utterance’ and ‘the
constituent which is ‘the concern of the message’(Halliday, 1967: 212; Brown & Yule, 1988: 126, 135;Halliday &
Matthiessen 2004: 55; Eggins, 2004: 136 ) fail to define the boundary of the Theme, especially when the concept of
‘left-most constituent’ becomes difficult to apply to such functional morphemes as conjunctions which often occur in
initial positions to play a more cohesive/non-structural function between clauses than a structural/grammatical one
within a single clause (Eggins, 2004: 47-51; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 538-59). There also is no way to clearly cut
the Theme from the Rheme in this definition by Halliday and Matthiessen (2004: 64): “the Theme is the element which
serves as the point of departure of the message; it is that which locates and orients the message within its context....The
Rheme is the remainder of the message, the part in which the Theme is developed”.
It thus emerges that determining what stands for the ‘Theme’ is not an easy task. Fortunately, Halliday (1994: 53) offers
a definition that can serve as the linchpin for Theme analysis: “the Theme extends from the beginning of the clause up
to (and including) the first element that has a function in transitivity”. In other words, Halliday and Matthiessen (2004:
79) specify that: “the Theme of a clause ends with the first constituent that is participant, circumstance or process. We
refer to this constituent in the textual function as topical theme”. This means that a transitivity-labeled item is the
obligatory constituent in the structure/composition of Theme: “every clause must contain one and only one topical
Theme” (Eggins, 1994:277; 2004: 302).
Part of the confusion is due to the fact that constituents with different lexico-grammatical labels (experiential,
interpersonal, and textual) can function as Theme, giving rise to three major types of Theme: topical, interpersonal and
textual Theme. The topical Theme is the constituent which serves as the departure point and to which a transitivity label
(participant, process, or circumstance) can be assigned (Halliday, 1994; Eggins, 1994/2004). The interpersonal theme is
the one to which a mood label (subject, finite, vocative…etc) can be assigned while the textual theme is the one bearing
neither transitivity nor mood label, but which does a rather cohesive work by relating a whole clause to its context.
It must also be pointed out that, in addition to these three general categories of ‘Theme’, other specific types can be
distinguished. For example, a topical Theme can be ‘unmarked’ or ‘marked’. A topical Theme is said to be ‘unmarked’
when it is used in its normal or expected subject position. However, when such an item occurs in a position that is not
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normally its, then it becomes used as ‘a marked topical theme’. Even the other two types of Theme (interpersonal and
textual) can be marked. In (1b), (2b)and (3b) in Table1 below, the item ‘in this country’ is a circumstantial adjunct used
as a ‘marked topical Theme’, ‘never again shall..’ are modal locutions used as ‘marked interpersonal Themes’ and
‘thus’ is a conjunction used as a ‘marked textual Theme’.
Table 1. Unmarked vs. Marked Themes: inspired from Eggins (2004: 301-308)
n° unmarked Theme marked Theme
(5) (a) Most people eat rice in this country. (b) In this country, most people eat rice.
(6) (a) I shall never bow down to the lifeless god of (b) Never again shall I bow down to the lifeless
money again. god of money.
(7) (a) I was thus left the only child of my mother. (b) Thus was I left the only child of my mother.
There also is what is known as a ‘multiple Theme’. Indeed, Eggins (2004: 307) argues that when several textual Themes
or/ and interpersonal Themes occur before the obligatory topical Theme, the combination is known as a ‘multiple
Theme’. Distinction should also be made between ‘a textual Theme’ and ‘a structural one’. While the former is
generally a coordinating conjunction (and, then, but, yet, however, etc.), a subordinating conjunction (when, before,
after, how, etc) or a continuity adjunct (oh, yes/yea, no, well, etc.), the latter has to do with the use of relative pronouns
such as ‘who, which, that, etc.’ to introduce embedded clauses.
The foregoing entails that exploring the textual metafunction should involve, in addition to the analysis of Thematic and
Information Structures, that of taxis and rankshift, as Matthiessen, Teruya & Lam (2015: 221) argue that the textual
metafunction includes such systems as “THEME, INFORMATION, CONJUNCTION, SUBSTITUTION-ELLIPSIS,
REFERENCE and LEXICAL COHESION” (authors’ capitals). In fact, the tactic system describes the kind of
interdependency relationship between clauses linked together into complexes. This involves parataxis/coordination,
when clauses are related as equal, independent entities, and hypotaxis/subordination, when clauses relate to a main
clause through a dependency relationship (Eggins, 2004: 258). Interestingly, Halliday (1994: 224) describes parataxis
and hypotaxis as “the two basic forms taken by logical relations in natural language”. The tactic system is somehow
opposed to rankshift/embedding. While taxis, through coordination and subordination (addition, contrast, variation,
temporality, causality, etc.), involves expansion, rankshift implies compression, packing more meanings into units by
bundling a whole clause into a unit of a lower rank (Eggins, 2004: 269).
Finally, it is worth noting that Thematic Structure analysis is particularly interested in such deviations from the normal
patterning that convey particular messages. A key step in the exploration of the textual metafunction is thus to observe
such deviations in theme-patterns as the inversion of word-order, logical connectors and the construction involved in the
hierarchies of clauses, all of which must serve some aesthetic function such as emphasis or explicitness, or their
opposites – the aesthetically justified blurring of distinctions or obscurity. As Martin (1992: 12) puts it, “the different
patterns and meanings made by the choice of Theme can be manipulated and exploited, consciously or subconsciously,
by the writer in order to convey their ‘angle’ or viewpoint’”.
3. Methodological Perspective
For the purpose of this analysis, each of the two texts is divided in its constituent clauses. Each clause is numbered and
each Theme-type is underlined, labeled and quantified (see the appendix). Plain numbers –i.e. (1) (2)– show ranking
clauses while these numbers followed by a dot and other numbers –i.e. (1.1) (2.1.2)– indicate rankshifted clauses, a
rankshifted clause being a complete clause carrying out the function of a noun phrase or of just a word acting either as
complementiser or modifier within the noun phrase. In addition, as different lexico-grammatical labels (experiential,
interpersonal, and textual) can coexist within the Theme, I propose the structure-oriented classification summed up in
table 2:
Table 2. The researcher’s proposed Theme classification
Theme structure/composition of the Theme
classes
(a) ‘only a transitivity-label item or topical Theme’
(b) ‘textual element+ topical theme’
(c) ‘Interpersonal element+ topical theme’
(d) ‘textual element +Interpersonal element+ topical Theme’/
‘Interpersonal element+ Textual element + topical theme’
(e) ‘structural element’
(f) ‘textual element+ structural element/‘structural element+ Topical theme’
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This classification offers a big advantage: it makes Theme-identification within the clause less cumbersome, as it helps
to avoid using many theme-labels in the same clause. In addition, it helps to clearly show the hierarchy between the
clauses: classes (b) (c), and (d) reveal clause coordination and subordination while classes (e), and (f)) shed light on
rankshift in terms of complementization and relative definition. It must be noted that some letters are followed by (+);
this signals markedness. In addition, while Eggins (2004: 311) considers the particle ‘let’s/let us’ as ‘a topical Theme’,
it is taken as ‘an interpersonal One’ in this research not only because the real ‘verb/process’ is the base-verb after the
particle, but also, especially as it is used as a synonym for ‘shall we....?’ Indeed, the combination ‘let/may +topical
theme/subject +base verb’ is used to express theoretical assumptions in mathematics or hope/wish in Biblical
invocations (Genesis 1: 3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24, 26, etc.; Psalms 25: 21; 31: 17, 18, 21; 32: 8; 33: 22; 34: 3; 35: 4, 5, 8, 25,
26, 27, etc.). Moreover, Halliday and Matthiessen (2004: 513) consider the use of ‘let’ in such a causative-like structure
as a form of verbal modulation. The same applies for such praise-laden phrases like ‘long live’ (i.e. may...live long) in
text2, which are thus treated as class (c) Theme: ‘interpersonal +topical items’.
The first section of the analysis looks into the Thematic structure in terms of Theme classes and structures while the
second deals with Taxis and Rankshift.
4. Analysis of Theme Types and Thematic Structure in the texts.
As the parenthetical sequences provided by the analyst in the appendix show, both texts exhibit a significant number of
elliptical items, which has made Theme identification a real challenge, as the omitted strings sometimes include the
obligatory component of Theme, the experiential Theme. While text1 contains 40 elliptical clauses (28.57%)–3, 4, 5, 6,
8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 26, 33, 34.2, 34.3,36, 37, 40, 41.2, 52, 58, 70, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 87, 97, 99, 101, 102, 106,
107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 117 – text2 has 43(15.47%) –(2.1, 9, 20, 23.1, 24, 29, 31, 33, 40.1, 53, 68, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76,
79, 80, 81, 84, 86.2, 91, 96, 97, 98, 100.1, 102.1, 104, 120, 138, 143, 148, 151, 153, 165.1, 169, 176, 184, 203, 213,
218, 219, 220. In particular, the absence of the ‘vocative +topical Theme’ ‘Lord, when’(83) from clauses ‘85,87, 89,
91, and 92’ (text1) is due to the use of this combination as a common factor for them, which is why they are taken to
belong to the same class (c), despite the conjunction ‘or’. The same combination is used in (112) to cover clauses ‘113,
114, 115, 116 and 117’, which are thus categorized accordingly. It must be pointed out that ellipsis is an indication of
‘given-ness’; i.e., the elided item has always appeared earlier in the text and is being zero-reiterated or is presented as
such based on the writer’s presupposition about the reader’s/listener ability to recuperate it. Halliday and Matthiessen
(2004: 535) put it this way: “Ellipsis makes it possible to leave out parts of a structure when they can be presumed from
what has gone before. Ellipsis indicates continuity, allowing speaker and addressee to focus on what is contrastive”.
While this significant occurrence of elliptical topical and interpersonal Themes can well give the impression of a
carefully written mode, the rate gap between the two texts in the density of these also implies that text1 is in a more
carefully written more than text2. This means that even though the writer draws on Bible discourse, he somehow adjusts
the mode character-wise or register-wise to reflect linguistic differences. Indeed, both the imaginary and real
speaker/Lord in text 1 is Christ while real speaker in text 2 is a robber, speaking from the point of view of an imaginary
Lord, a colonial capitalist, a master robber.
A look at the Theme-identification process (appendix) shows that text1 contains 140 clauses and thus 140Themes, while
text 2has 277. Table3 below gives a statistical account of the identified Themes on the basis of the classification
proposed in table 3.
Table 3. Numerical and statistical distribution of Themes in the texts
Theme Texts Clauses of occurrence Quantity& rate
classes
(a) Text 1 3(+), 5(+), 10, 14(+), 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 39, 42, 44(+), 50, 60, 61; 64, 26(18.57%)
66, 68, 70, 72, 90, 92, 115.
2,3,4, 5,6, 10, 15, 16(+), 19, 22,23,26,28,32,36,42, 44,54,57,59, 65,70(+), 71(+),
Text 2 73(+), 74(+), 83, 89, 90(+), 101, 102, 106, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113(+), 116, 117, 78(28.16%)
118, 126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 132(+), 133, 134, 140, 143, 145, 146, 148, 155,
156, 158, 159, 161, 162,164, 165, 172, 175, 177, 178, 181(+), 183, 186, 190,
191(+), 192, 194, 199, 200(+), 201, 203, 214, 215, 217.
(b) Text 1 1, 2, 4(+),6,7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 13, 15, 16, 17, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 40, 43, 45,
46(+), 47, 48(+), 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 62, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 73, 76, 78, 63(45%)
80, 82, 85, 86, 87, 89, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 111, 114,
116, 117.
Text 2 1, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37, 40, 41, 43, 45,
46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58, 60, 61, 62, 66, 69, 72(+), 75(+), 76(+), 107(38.63%)
77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99;
100, 103, 104, 107, 108, 113, 115, 119, 120, 123, 124, 128, 134, 135, 137,
138, 142, 144, 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 157, 163, 166, 169, 171, 174, 184,
185, 187(+), 188(+), 189(+), 193, 195, 198, 202, 204+, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209,
210, 211.
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(c) Text 1 18, 19, 21, 26, 27, 29, 34, 38, 41, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84, 88, 105, 106, 107, 23 (16.43%)
108, 109, 110, 113.
Text 2 24, 35, 38, 39, 63, 64, 67, 68, 105, 121, 122, 125, 139,141, 153, 160, 167, 168,
170, 176, 179, 180, 196, 213(+), 218(+), 219(+), 220(+). 27(09.75%)
(d) Text 1 53,59, 74, 91, 104, 112. 06(04.29%)
Text 2 18, 148,173, 182, 212. 05(01.80%)
(e) Text 1 1.1, 1.2, 7.1, 10.1, 11.1, 16.1, 24.1, 32.1, 38.1, 41.1.1., 41.2.1; 46.1, 46.1, 58.1. 14(10%)
Text 2 1.1, 1.1.1.1, 2.1, 4.1.1, 4.1.1.1, 17.1, 21.1, 23.1, 40.1, 47.1, 47.2, 78.1, 82.1,
86.1, 87.1, 94.1, 101.1, 102.1, 103.1, 119.1, 130.1, 135.1, 137.1, 144.1, 145.1, 38 (13.71%)
146.1, 163.1, 164.1, 167.1, 173.1, 174.1, 176.1, 180.1, 186.1, 189.1, 193.1,
211.1, 212.1.
(f) Text 1 34.1, 34.2, 34.2.1, 34.3, 34.3.1, 41.1, 41.2, 48.2 08(05.71%)
Text 2 1.1.1, 4.1, 12.1, 21. 2, 26.1, 27.1, 34.1, 34.2, 35.1, 56.1, 86.2, 89.1, 90.1,
100.1, 110.1, 127.1, 157.1, 170.1, 170.1.1, 175.1, 185.1, 185.2. 22(07.94%)
It must be noticed that the dominant topical-Theme function is played by participants in both texts. In text1, they play
this function in100 of the 118ranking clauses, i.e., 84.47%of the total transitivity function in the Thematic structure.
The same applies for text2 in which the dominant experiential Theme function in the Theme structure is played by
participants in 187 of the 218 ranking clauses, i.e., 85. 78%. These high rates of participants in the Thematic structure
can be accounted for by the fact that most sentence forms (affirmative, negative, interrogative, interro-negative, etc.)
normally require a participant. However, the use of ‘wh-words‘ as topical themes signal the demand/search for the
identity of some element in the content or for relatively long missing pieces of information from an addressee (Halliday
& Matthiessen 2004: 75) as in clauses‘75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110’ (text1) and in ‘32, 36, 142,
147, 171, 172, 176, 192, 215’ (text2), which signals a spoken face-to-face mode.
All the processes used as topical Themes, be they of class (a) or (b), are imperatives –‘23, 31, 44, 45, 49, 60, 61, 92’ in
text1, and ‘112, 113, 129, 156, 157, 183, 186, 187, 192, 193, 194, 197’ in text2. Though this front position reflects the
normal structure of the imperative, the occurrence of this mood reinforces that of ‘wh-questions’ in signaling demand of
action from a present addressee. Similarly, almost all circumstances used as topical Themes are marked/foregrounded:
‘2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 46, 48, 54’ (text1) and ’7, 17, 49, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 81, 90, 117, 128, 132, 163, 169, 181, 188, 189,
199, 200, 214 (text2). It must be noted that the terms ‘foregrounding’, ‘marked-ness’, ‘thematization’ and
‘topicalization’ are used as near synonyms (Brown & Yule, 1988; Eggins, 2004) to refer to “the movement of an
element to the beginning of a clause/sentence so that it can act as its Theme” (Crystal, 1995: 459).
The foregrounding of circumstantial elements in the texts has three possible interpretations among others. First, it
stresses not only the importance of the situational context in the description of participants and processes but also the
speaker’s or writer’s psychological priority to this (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 55; Eggins, 2004: 136). This
thematization of circumstances is perhaps the best illustration of the view of the Theme as ‘the psychological subject’
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004: 55; Eggins, 2004: 136). Secondly, this circumstantial markedness appears as a
realization of a carefully-written mode as the writer must have planned the rhetorical development of the text to achieve
this level of foregrounding (Eggins, 1994: 319). Finally, Eggins (2004: 339) argues that significant thematization of
circumstantial adjuncts shows that the information expressed in both texts is presented as non-arguable, a strategy to
express the speaker’s authority on the addressee.
Eggins (2004: 315) suggests two levels of analysis for subordinate clauses in frontal position: first a clause-by-clause
analysis in which each is taken to have its own Thematic structure; then a second level of analysis in which the first-
placed dependent clause serves as the Theme for the whole complex, the main clause serving as the Rheme. The first
level of analysis is thus already carried out in treating such foregrounded subordinate clauses as ’51, 89, 114’ (text1)
and ‘7, 13/14, 25, 27, 43, 93, and 164’ (text2) as any other clause in terms of their Thematic structure. At the second
level, clause ‘51’ serves as ‘the Theme’ for ‘52’ which is ‘the Rheme’, just as ’89’ does for ‘90’ and ‘114’ for ‘115’
(text1). In text2, the same applies for ‘7-8’, ’13/14-15’, ’25-26’, ’27-28’, ’43-44’, ’93-94’, ‘164-165’ and ‘202-203’.
These clauses must thus be seen to play the same function as marked circumstantial elements in simple clauses (Eggins,
2004: 315). Table 4.1 shows the two levels of analysis for ’89-90’ (text1) and table 4.2 does for same for ’43-44’ (text 2),
the same thing being applicable for any of the pairs listed above.
Table 4.1 two-level Thematic structure analysis of clauses ’89-90’
(89) (90)
In as much as Ye have done it unto one of the least Ye have done it unto me.
of these my brethren
textual Topical topical
THEME RHEME THEME RHEME
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THEME RHEME
Table 4.2 two-level Thematic structure analysis of clauses ’43-44’

(42) (43)
If That were not so I would have told you.

textual Topical topical
THEME RHEME THEME RHEME
THEME RHEME
Themes of classes(c) and (d) prove to be very revealing as to tenor in both texts, namely in text1. Indeed, most Themes
of class (c) have a vocative adjunct, i.e., the item ‘Lord’ as the interpersonal Theme (19, 27, 35, 42, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84,
85, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, and 111). Here, it is useful to point out the combination ‘vocative +topical theme’ ‘Lord,
when’ used in (76) and (106) covers respectively ’78, 80, 82, 84, 85’ and ‘107, 108, 109, 110, 111’, which is why they
are taken as belonging to the same class, despite the initial conjunction ‘or’ in the last five cases. The other Themes of
this class have a mood adjunct as the interpersonal part of the Theme: 20, 22, 28, 30, 39, 89, and 114, even though there
is a combination of a mood adjunct and a vocative in (30). All class (d) Themes are in the form of ‘then+ shall...’ (54,
60, 75, 105, 113, and 114). The foregrounding of this strong modulator not only reinforces the third interpretation
earlier provided for circumstantial markedness, but also the master-servant relationship between the speaker and his
listeners, on the one hand, and the imperativeness of the judgment given to both the lawful and unlawful servants, on
the other.
Text2 contains about 27 thematically-positioned interpersonal elements, with 06 starting with ‘a Finite verbal operator’
(35, 38, 171, 178, 168, and 169), especially the strong-tenored ‘did you not....?’ (35) and the combination of a loaded
vocative and a strong-tenored modulator ‘could you not’ (168, 169). The occurrence of this modulator in loaded-
vocative interrogatives reinforces the hostile tenor of the imperialist lord to the rebellious-minded servant. The
contribution of ‘wh-interrogatives’ (32, 33, 36, 65, 143, 171, 175, 181, 201, and 214), especially the high-tenored ones
with ‘how can you...?’ (32, 33, 36) and elliptical ones ‘143, 147, 201’, cannot be overlooked as they express the
reciprocal hostile tenor between socialist-minded servant and the master. Some of the remaining interpersonal Themes
are introduced by vocatives (105, 121, 138, 141, 180), others by mood adjuncts such as ‘see, let us, behold, just’ (63,
64, 67, 68, 122, 148, 172) and still others are so by praise-loaded exclamations or interjections such as ‘wonderful!, ha!,
good! good!’ (125, 160, and 196). Interestingly, the Themes in ‘213, 218, 219, 220’combine the invocative imperative
mood with the exclamatory one. In fact, these praise-loaded forms can be rewritten into ‘may...live long,’ and express
the speaker’s admiration for the North-South cooperation in the exploitation of Kenya’s resources.
There also are a few elements from classes ‘b, c, d’ which are qualified as ‘ multiple Themes’ (Eggins, 2004: 307): the
Themes in ‘10, 17, 22, 30, 42, 54, 60, 75, 92, 105, and 113’ (Text1) and those in ’18, 24, 77, 85, 98, 139, 148, 149, 167,
173, and 202 (text2). Table 5.1 and Table 5.2 below display the thematic structure of such clauses in both texts, with the
first number standing for the clause and the second one after the colon standing for the text in which the clause appears.
Two major structures come up: x = ‘textual (+textual) +interpersonal+ topical’ and y= ‘interpersonal (1, 2, 3, and 4)+
textual+ topical’. Table5.1 and table5.2 respectively reflect the x-type and y-type Thematic structures
Tabl 5.1: X-type Thematic Structure of multiple Theme-clauses in the texts

Clause n°: THEME
text n° textual textual interpersonal topical RHEME
(10:1) and likewise he
(17:1) And So he...he came....
(54:1) Then Shall he sit on the throne of his glory...
(60:1) Then Shall the King say unto them on his right hand....
(75:1) Then Shall the righteous answer him.........
(92:1) Then Shall he say also onto them........
(105:1) Then Shall they also answer him....
(113:1) Then Shall he answer them..........
(18:2) so that when eventually I go back to ..........
(24:2) And especially (he taught them) the art.....

(77:2) and So the lord went away........
(85:2) And So he made a profit......
(98:2) And Then he dug a whole.......
(149:2) and So I Went ....
(204: 2) because even after I had left...............
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Table 5.2 Y-typeThematic Structure of multiple Theme-clauses in the texts

lause n°: THEME
text n° Interpersonal Textual RHEME
comment vocative adjunct Modal topical .........
adjunct operator
(22:1) Well Thou good and faithful servant thou .......
done,
(30:1) Well Thou good and faithful servant thou .........
done,
(139:2) (1) (2) (3) I .............
You, lord and member of the
master, white race
(168:2) (1) (2) (3) (4) you ..........
You, bad, unfaithful member of the could not
and lazy rebellious clan
servant
The contribution of the textual and structural Themes to the thematic structure is discussed in section 5.
5. Analysis of Taxis and Rankshift in the Texts
Table 6 below recapitulates and classifies the use of such textual and structural elements in the Thematic position.
Table 6. Recapitulation of Taxis and Rankshift features of the texts

Texts Types of taxis Sub-types of tactic relations Clauses of occurrence Quantity &
rate
Text 1 Additive (and, then) 1.2, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9,10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 33, 34,
Parataxis: 67 36, 37, 38, 41, 42.2, 44, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 54, 53(51.46%)
55, 56, 58, 60, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 75, 77,
(65.05%) 79, 81, 83, 86, 87, 88, 92, 95, 97, 99, 103, 105,
112, 113, 117.
Adversative (but) 12, 49, 59, 118 04 14(13
Variative (or) 78, 82, 84, 85, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111. 09 .
59%)
causal (so, therefore) 17. 01
hypotaxis: -causality (for) 1, 47, 63, 94, 96, 98, 100, 102. 08 14
14 -temporality (after, when,) 1.1.1.1, 52. 02 (13.
59%)
(13. 59%)
location(where): 42.1.1, 42.2.1. 02
-condition (in as much as) 97, 123 02
relative clauses (who, which, 1.1, 1.2, 7.1, 10.1, 12.1, 17.1, 25.1, 33.1, 39.1,
Rankshift that, whom, etc) 46.1, 47.1, 59.1.; 35.1, 35.2, 35.2.1, 35.3, 22
(22:21.36%) 35.3.1, 42.1, 42.1.1, 42.2, 42.2.1, 49.2
Text 2 Parataxis: additive (and, then) 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 24, 29, 30, 31, 33, 37, 67 (37.02%)
80(44.20%) 41, 48, 49, 51, 53, 55, 56, 58, 62, 69, 72, 75,
76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 87, 88, 94,
96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 103, 104, 107, 108, 113,
114, 118, 119, 122, 123, 133, 136, 137, 141,
150, 157, 166, 171, 175, 186, 188, 194, 211,
212, 217;
Adversative (but) 17, 47, 86, 190; 209, 05 13
Variative (or) 92, 168, 02 (07.1
IJALEL 5(5):215-227, 2016 222
causal (so, therefore) 77, 85, 95, 127, 150, 207 06 8%)
Hypotaxis: -causality/purpose (because, 11, 12, 40, 45, 50, 52, 60,134, 143, 149, 169, 19
41 (22.65%) for, so that) 173, 189,196, 199, 201, 208, 210, 213.
-temporality (when, until, 8, 13, 25, 27, 34, 46, 185, 201, 206, 09
after, before)
-condition (if..not, unless) 43, 66, 91, 92, 93, 151, 152, 163. 08
-comparison (as, than): 61, 154, 205. 03

-location: where 144, 174 02
relative clauses (who, which, 1.1, 1.1.1.1, 2.1, 4.1.1, 4.1.1.1, 17.1, 21.1,
Rank-shift that, whom, etc) 23.1, 40.1, 47.1, 47.2, 78.1, 82.1, 86.1, 87.1, 60
94.1, 101.1, 102.1, 103.1, 119.1, 130.1, 135.1,
(60: 33.15%) 137.1, 146.1, 147.1, 164.1, 165.1, 169.1,
176.1, 178.1, 182.1, 184, 188.1, 191.1, 195.1,
213.1, 214.1., 1.1.1, 4.1, 12.1, 21.1, 26.1, 27.1,
34.1, 34.2, 35.1, 56.1, 86.2, 89.1, 90.1, 94.1,
100.1, 110.1, 127.1, 158.1, 171.1, 171.1.1,
177.1, 187.1, 187.2.
It must be noted that 103 logical relations have been identified in Text1 while Text 2 contains 181 such relations. As can
be seen in table6, the most frequent relation between the clauses and sentences in both texts is that of coordination or
parataxis –[text1: 65.05%); text2: 44.20%] –, this entails that sequences of clauses of similar status or equal importance
linked either through an additive relationship (and, then), or a contrastive one ‘but, however, yet’ or variative one ‘or,
instead’ or a causal one (so, therefore, thus, then’.
Additive conjunctions appear as the most dominant in this paratactic system, accounting for 51.46% of use in text1 and
37.02% in text 2. This involves that little contradiction is involved in the line of argument, even though all these
conjunctions, be they (additive, contrastive, variative or causal) contribute to the logico-semantic expression of
expansion (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). In addition, the pervasive use of the conjunction ‘and’ to link main clauses
in both texts gives the impression of a recitation of events in the structure of a list, as much as a child might (do) in
telling a story (Cummings & Simmons, 1983: 93), even though this use is more intense in text1 than in text 2, given the
rate gap between them. Interestingly, there is a case of Theme-reiteration (10a+b) in text1, which is considered as a
feature of rapid conversational speech (Eggins, 1994: 289; 2004: 312).
The use of hypotaxis is higher in text 2 than in text 1 – [text1: 13. 59%; text2:22. 65%] – This means that the second text
attaches twice more dependent clauses to main ones in a relation of unequal status than text1. However, even though the
dependent clauses appear to be structurally of lower status to the main ones, they help to expand their meanings by
adding dimensions of time, place, causality, conditions, etc. to them. In fact, in most cases, the removal of the
subordinating conjunction and the placement of a comma or period would make a main clause and its subordinate one
appear as two independent clauses, even though the logico-semantic relationship between them would become fuzzy in
the absence of the conjunction. Adding parataxis to hypotaxis, it can be said that text1, with a tactic density of 78.64%,
is tactically denser than text 2 which has 66. 85 % of this density.
In addition to taxis, there is a relatively significant occurrence of rankshift in both texts, which indicates a greater sense
of dependency, hierarchy and value within some of the clauses. Just as for hypotaxis, text2 has a higher rate of rankshift
than text1: [text1: 21.36%; text2: 33.15%]. It must be noted that the rates if rankshift in both texts should normally be
equal to the sum ‘e+ f’ (table3) if the total number of clauses (t1:140; t2: 277) were considered instead of that of logical
relations (t1: 103: t2: 181) considered in table6.
In general, the combination of parataxis, hypotaxis and rankshift leads to complex grammatical structures resulting into
the creation of depth, as Cummings & Simmons (1983: 140) claim:
The number of nodes in a sentence is the measure of its depth, i.e., the complexity of its articulation …
the more divisions in a unit complex, and the more rankshift; the more nodes occur and the greater is
the depth. If the situation is a serious one, the fact that depth is intellectually demanding, and hence
slows the progress of communication helps to reinforce the considered and weighty nature of what is
being said … it helps to convey a serious and thoughtful tone.
This means that sentence depth is equivalent to the level of its internal grammatical complexity/articulation and is
associated with the seriousness and intellectual respectability of the topic or situation. As a result, text 2 has more depth
than text1. In addition, Eggins (2004) contends that taxis is considered to be more dynamic – it involves little forward
IJALEL 5(5):215-227, 2016 223
planning as the speaker can simply chain on another unit of the same type –and rankshift is more static as it requires
some forethought in the construction of the clauses. That is why taxis characterizes spontaneous, spoken language or
informal written texts while rankshift is associated with formal, careful written texts. In this regard, Halliday (1994:
224) writes:
The clause complex is of particular interest in spoken text, because it represents the dynamic
potential of the system –the ability to ‘choreograph’ very long and intricate patterns of semantic
movement while maintaining a continuous flow of discourse that is coherent without being
constructional. This kind of flow is very uncharacteristic of written language”.
As it appears, though both texts are spoken, they exhibit features of both spoken and written mode. However, the higher
density of hypotaxis and rankshift in text2 entails that, though the writer has drawn on a more spoken mode, he has
twisted it toward a more written-like one by strengthening this feature of written-ness (Cummings & Simmons, 1983;
Halliday, 1994).
6. Recapitulation and Conclusion
This paper helps to reveal a few important things about the grammar of textual metafunction. First, it appears the most
difficult to apply as such features as ellipsis can make Theme identification a hard labor. This is probably why less
research is carried out in this area at the Maîtrise-level in our university (Benin, West Africa). However, it is a
worthwhile enterprise as it helps to gauge/challenge the researcher’s knowledge of structural intricacies. Secondly, the
concern of ‘Information Structure Analysis’ with intonation patterns makes it difficult to fully apply this grammar to
such written-down-to-be-read texts as the present ones.
As statistics earlier show, both texts exhibit the same Theme-types and Thematic Structures, namely the significant
occurrence of marked topical themes (circumstances and processes) and of interpersonal Themes to express priority,
psychological concern, mode and tenor of discourse (Matthiessen, 1995:20; Eggins, 2004:339). However, drawing on
the proposed Theme-classification (table2) and the statistics in table3, there is a difference in the density of these
structures, leading to this quantitative Thematic characterization of the texts: a (18.57%vs.28.16%); b (45%vs.38.63%);
c (16.43%vs.09.75%); d (04.29%vs. 01.80%); e (10%vs.13.71%); f (05.71%vs.07.94%). These figures translate into
this qualitative Thematic characterization: a (t1–, t2+); b (t1+ , t2–); c (t1+, t2–); d (t1+, t2–) ; e (t1–, t2+) ; f (t1– , t2+). The first
item means that text1 contains a lower rate of type-a Theme structure than text 2, etc, which entails a differential
Thematic focus (Eggins, 2004: 340-41).
Likewise, while both texts exhibit significant uses of taxis and rankshift (table6), there is a significant difference in the
use of parataxis (65.05% vs. 44.20%), hypotaxis (13. 59% vs. 22. 65% and rankshift (21.36% vs. 33.15%) (table6).
While the first gap is earlier interpreted as an orientation of text1 toward more spoken-ness than text2 (Cummings &
Simmons, 1983; 140; Halliday, 1994: 224), the second one can be in terms of the ‘main/dominant’ versus
‘dependent/subordinate’ hierarchy. As a fact, the lesser use of hypotaxis in text1 may be due to the fact that Christ holds
a near ‘equal-to-equal’ tenor with his disciples while the capitalist stresses more the ‘master-slave’ one to his servants.
As for the gap in the use of rankshift, it may be interpreted, on the one hand, as the capitalist master’s stronger emphasis
on the God-ordained perfect system of unequal master-slave tenor, and on the other, as the writer’s inclination toward
written-ness.
On the whole, by showing that both texts blend features of both spoken and written modes, this study confirms
Bahktin’s (1981: 262-3) view of the novel as kind of dialogism –a reproduction of the intrinsic cultural and ideological
heteroglossia of language, as he writes:
The novel can be defined as a diversity of speech types (sometimes even a diversity of languages) and
a diversity of individual voices, artistically organized…..These distinctive links and interrelationships
between utterances and languages, this movement of the theme through different languages and speech
forms, its dispersion into rivulets and droplets of social heteroglossia, its dialogization –this is the basic
distinguishing feature of the stylistics of the novel.
Finally, this exploration into the textual metafunction has yielded quite interesting insights into the mode variable
encoded in the texts, as one of the interpersonal metafunction is likely to yield into the tenor variable, an option for
future research. At any rate, the writer’s adoption of Bible topics and speech has not prevented him from manipulating
Thematic structure and Taxis to convey the different ideologies expressed by the two characters or imitators of Bible
discourse in the articulation of their political beliefs (Martin, 1992: 12).
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Appendices
Text1
(1) [Forthe kingdom of heaven (b)is as a man travelling into a far country],(1.1)[who(e)called his own servants],(1.2 [and
(who)(e) delivered unto them his goods]].(2)And unto one (b+)he gave five talents], (3)[to another(a+) (he gave) two], (4)[
and to another (b+) (he gave) one]; (5)[to every man(a+) (he gave) according to his several ability; (6)[and
(he)(b)straightway took his journey].(7) [Then he(b) [(7.1) that (e) had received the five talents] went] (8) [ and (he)(b) traded
with the same], (9) [and (he)(b) made them other five talents].(10.a) [And likewise he(d)(10.1) [ that(e) had received two], (10.b)
he also gained other two].(11) [Buthe(11.1)[that (e) had received one]went] (12) [and (he)(b)digged in the earth], (13) [and
(he)(b) hid his lord's money].(14) [After a long time (a+) the lord of those servants cometh], (15) [and (he)(b)reckoneth with
them].(16) [And sohe (b)(16.1)[that(e) had received five talents came] (17) [and (he)(b) brought other five talents, saying], (18)
[Lord, thou(c) deliveredst unto me five talents]: (19)[behold, I(c) have gained beside them five talents more].(20)[His lord(a)
said unto him], (21)[Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou (c) hast been faithful over a few things], (22)[I(a) will
make thee ruler over many things]: (23)[enter (a) thou into the joy of thy lord].(24)[Healso(a)(24.1) [that (e) had received two
talents]came] (25) [and (he)(b)said], (26)[Lord, thou(c) deliveredst unto me two talents]:(27) [behold, I(c) have gained two
other talents beside them].(28) [His lord (a) said unto him], (29) [Well done, good and faithful servant; thou (c) hast been
faithful over a few things], (30)[I (a)will make thee ruler over many things]: (31) [enter (a)thou into the joy of thy
IJALEL 5(5):215-227, 2016 225
lord].(32)Then he (b)(32.1)[which(e) had received the one talent] came] (33) [and (he) (b)said], (34) [Lord, I(c) knew thee] (34.1)
[that thou (f) art an hard man; (34.2) [(that thou(f) art) reaping (in a place)] (34.2.1) [where thou(b) hast not sown],(34.3) [and
(that thou (f)art)gathering (in a place)] (34.3.1) [where thou (b) hast not strawed]:(35) [And I(b) was afraid],(36) [and
(I)(b)went ] (37) [ and (I)(b) hid thy talent in the earth]: (38)lo , there thou(c) hast (38.1) [that (e) is thine].(39) [His lord(a)
answered] (40) [and (he)(b)said unto him], (41)[Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou(c) knewest](41.1)[that I(f) reap (in a
place)] (41.1.1)[where(e) Isowed not],(41.2)[ and (that I) gather (in a place)] (41.2.1)[where(e) I have not strawed]:(42)[Thou (a)
oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers], (43)[ and then at my coming(b+) I should have received
mine own with usury].(44)[Take(a+)therefore the talent from him], (45)[andgive(b)it unto him],(45.1) [which(e) hath ten
talents],(46)[For unto every one (b+) (46.1) [that(e) hath] shall be given], (47)[and he (b) shall have abundance]:(48)[ but from
him (b+) (48.1) [that (e) hath not] shall be taken awayeven that] (48.2) [which he(f) hath].(49)[And cast(b)ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness]: (50) [there(a) shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth].
(51) [When the Son of man(b+) shall come in his glory],(52) [and all the holy angels(b) (shall come) with him],(53) [then
shallhe(d+) sit upon the throne of his glory]:(54) [And before him(b+) shall be gathered all nations]: (55) [and he(b) shall
separate them one from another], (56) [as a shepherd(b) divideth his sheep from the goats]:(57) [ And he(b) shall set the
sheep on his right hand], (58) [but (he (b) shall set ) the goats on the left].(59) [Then shall the King (d+) say unto them on
his right hand], (60) [Come(a), ye blessed of my Father], (61) [inherit(a)the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world]:(62) [For I(b) was hungered], (63) [and ye(b) gave me meat]: (64)I(a) was thirsty], (65) [and ye(b) gave me drink]:
(66)[I (a) was a stranger], (67) [and ye(b) took me in]:(68) [(I(a)was) Naked], (69) [and ye (b) clothed me]: (70)[I (a)was sick], (71)
[and ye (b) visited me]: (72)[I (a)was in prison, (73) [and ye (b) came unto me].(74) [Then shall the righteous(d+) answer him,
saying], (75) [Lord, when (c)(*) saw we thee hungered], (76) [and(we) (b)fed thee? (77) [or (when(c) saw we thee) thirsty, (78)
[and (we)(b) gave thee drink?](79)[(Lord) When (c)(*) saw we thee a stranger], (80) [and (we)(b)took thee in]?(81) [
or(when(c) saw we thee) naked], (82) [and(we)(b) clothed thee?] (83) [Or when (c) saw we thee sick], (84) [or (when(c) saw
we thee) in prison], (85) [and (we)(b)came unto thee? ] (86) [And the King(b) shall answer] (87) [ and (he (b) shall) say unto
them], (88)[Verily I (c+) say unto you], (89)[Inasmuch asye(b+) have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren],
(90)[ye(a) have done it unto me].
(91)[Then shall he(d+) say also unto them on the left hand], (92)[Depart(a)from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared
for the devil and his angels]:(93)(*) [For I(b) was hungered], (94)[and ye(b) gave me no meat]:(95)[I(b) was thirsty], (96)[and
ye (b) gave me no drink]:(97) [I (b)was a stranger], (98)[and ye(b) took me not in]: (99)[(I (b)was) naked],(100)[ and ye(b)
clothed me not]: (101)[ (I(b)was) sick], (102)[and (I(b) was) in prison], (103)[and ye(b) visited me not].(104)[Then shall they(d+)
also answer him, saying], (105)[ Lord, when (*) (c) saw we thee hungered, (106) or (when(c) saw we thee) thirsty, (107) [or
(when(c) saw we thee) a stranger, (108) [or (when(c) saw we thee) naked,(109)[or (When(c) saw we thee) sick, (110) [or
(when(c)saw we thee) in prison], (111) [and (we)(b) did not minister unto thee?] (112)[Then shall he(d)answer them,
saying], (113)[Verily I (c+) say unto you],(114) [Inasmuch as ye(b°) did it not to one of the least of these], (115)[ye(a) did it not
to me].(116)[ And these (b) shall go away into everlasting punishment]: (117) [but the righteous(b)(shall go) into life eternal].
(Matthew 25: 14-46)
text2
(1)[For the Kingdom of Earthly Wiles(b) can be likened unto a ruler](1.1)[who (e)foresaw](1.1.1)[that the day (f)would
come](1.1.1.1)[when (e) he would be thrown out of a certain country by the masses and their guerrilla freedom fighters].(2)
[He(a)was much troubled in his heart, trying to determine ways of protecting all the property](2.1)[(that) (e) he had
accumulated in that country and also ways of maintaining his rule over the natives by other means]. (3) [He (a) asked
himself]: (4)[what(a)shall I do, seeing] (4.1)[that these people(f)(4.1.1)[over whom(e) I have always lorded] are now about to
expel me from these plantations and factories] (4.1.1.1)[that (e) I have taken from them?] (5)[I(a)can no longer cultivate the
fields]; (6)[I (a)can no longer work with my hands]. (7)[And if I(b) wait] (8)[until I(b) am clubbed] (9)[and (I(b) am)gunned
out of the country], (10)[I (a) will live forever in shame] (11)[ because all the hair-raising stories(b) I have told them about
the invincible might of my armoured cars and bombs], (12)[and because I(b) have always tried to show them] (12.1) [that
the white race(f)can never be dominated by the black race]. (13)[And when the guerrillas (b)win], (14)[and they (b) seize
the key of the country], (15)[I (a)shall never be able to repossess these plantations and industries]. (16)[This tea, this rice,
this cotton, this coffee, these precious stones, these hotels, these shops, these factories, these fruits of their precious
sweat –these and more(10 a) shall be lost unto me]. (17)[But now(b+)I know] (17.1) [what(e) I shall do], (18)[so that when
eventually I (d) go back to my own country through the front door], (19) [I(a)shall be able to return here through the back
door], (20) [and (I) (b)shall be well received], (21) [and I(b)shall be able to plant seeds] (21.1) [that (e)will take root more
firmly] (21.2) [than the ones(f) I planted before].
(22)[He(a) called his loyalist slaves and servants to him]. (23) [He(a) taught them all the earthly wiles] (23.1) [(that) (e)
he knew], (24)[and especially (he(c) taught them) the trick of sprinkling theft and robbery with the sweetest-smelling
perfumes, and the trick of wrapping poison in sugar-coated leaves, and many tricks for dividing the country’s workers
and peasants through bribery and appeals to tribe and religion]. (25) [When he (b) had finished],(26)[he (a) informed
them] (26.1)[that he (f) was about to leave for his country overseas]. (27)[When they(b)heard] (27.1)[that their lord and
master(f) was about to leave], (28)[the loyalist slaves and servants(a) rent their clothes] (29)[and (they)(b) smeared their
bodies with ashes], (30)[and they(b) knelt down] (31)[and (they)(b) cried]: (32)[how(a) can you go away] (33)[and (how(b)
can you) leave us here, mere orphans], (34)[when you (b) know full well] (34.1)[how we(f) have persecuted the masses]
(34.2)[and (how we(f) have) perpetrated many other crimes in your name]? (35)[Did you not (c) vow] (35.1)[that you (f)would
never leave this loan d]? (36) [How (a) can you leave us to the mercy of the nationalist guerrillas]?
(37)[And the lord, their master(b) told them]: (38)[‘Are you (c) possessed of so little faith]? (39)[Let not your heart (c) be
troubled], (40)[for you(b) must trust in the God] (40.1)[(that) (e) I have taught you to know], (41)[and you (b) should also trust
in me, the interpreter of his Will]. (42)[I(b) have many ways of fulfilling my wishes in this land]. (43)[If that(b) were not
so],(44)[I(b)would have told you], (45)[so that you(b)would have time to flee or to find ropes to hang yourselves with]
(46)[before you(b) are caught by the patriots]. (47)[But (47.1) [what(e) [I(a) wish to do now] is to prepare positions of
IJALEL 5(5):215-227, 2016 226
leadership for you and to add a little more to the crumbs] (47.2)[that(e) you have been gathering from my table]. (48) [And
later(b) I shall return with lots of money and many banks], (49)[and I(b) shall also bring you more armoured cars and guns
and bombs and aeroplanes], (50)[so that I(b)shall be with you](51)[and you(b) (shall be) with me], (52)[so that we(b) may
love one another always] (53)[and (we(b) may)eat together], (54)[I(a) sating myself on choice dishes], (55)[and you(a)
collecting up the precious remains].
(56)[And it (b) came to pass] (56.1)[that as the ruler(f)was about to return to his home abroad], (57)[he(a) again called together
all the servants] (58)[and (he)(b) gave them the key to the land, telling them]: (59)[ The patriotic guerrillas and the masses
of this country(a) will now be deceived], (60)[because you(b) are all black], (61)[ as they(b) are], (62)[and they(b) will chant]:
(63)[ “See, now(c) our black people have the key to our country]; (64)[see, now (c) our own black people hold the steering
wheel]. (65)[What (a) were we fighting for] (66)[if it (b) is not this?] (67)[Let us(c) now put down our arms], (68)[and (let us)
(c) sing hymns of praise to our black lords]. (69)[Then he(b) gave them his property and goods to look after and even to
increase and multiply]. (70)[To one (a+) he gave capital amounting to 500,000 shillings],(71)[to another(a+) (he gave)
200,000 shillings], (72) [and to another(b+),(he gave)100,000 shillings], (73)[to every servant (a+) (he gave) ]
(74)[(*)according to how loyally(a) he had served his master], (75)[and (how loyally(b) he) followed his faith], (76)[and
(how loyally(b) he) shared his outlook]. (77)[And so the lord(b) went away, leaving by the front door]. (78)[And the
servant (b)(78.1) [who (e) had received 500,000 shillings immediately] set out] (79)[and (he)(b)bought things cheaply from
the rural peasants], (80) [and (he) (b) sold them to the urban workers at a higher price], (81) [and in this way(b+)(he) made a
profit of 500,000 shillings]. (82)[And the one (b)(82.1)[who(e) had received 200,000 shillings] did the same]: (83)[he(a)
bought cheaply from producers], (84) [and (he) (b)sold dearly to consumers],(85)[and so he(b) made a profit of 200,000
shillings]. (86)[But he (b)(86.1)[who(e) had received only 100,000 shillings] thought] (86.2)[(that) he(f) was clever], (87)[and
he (b) reviewed his life and that of the masses of the land, and that of the master] (87.1)[who(e) had just left for a foreign
country]. (88)[And he (b) began to talk to himself, saying]: (89)[This lord and master (a) has always bragged] (89.1)[that
he(f) alone developed this country with the aid of the small amount of money] (89.2)[that he(f) came with, shouting,
‘Capital! Capital!’] (90)[Now(a+)let me see] (90.1)[whether capital(f)will yield profit] (91)[without(it)(b) being watered with
the sweat of the worker] (92)[or without(b)buying cheap the labour of the peasant and worker]. (93)[If it (b) produces profit
by itself], (94)[then I(b) shall know beyond all doubt] (94.1[that it (f) is money (94.1.1)[that(e) develops a country]. (95)[So he
(b) went], (96)[and (he)(b) put the 100,000 shillings in a tin] (97)[and (he)(b) covered it well], (98)[and then (he)(b)dug a hole
by a banana plant], (99)[and he(b) buried the tin there].

(100)[And it(b) came to pass] (100.1)[that before many days (f)had elapsed], (101)[the lord (a) came back to that
country, through the back door, to check on the property] (101.1)[(that) (e)he had left behind]. (102) [He (a) called his
servants to account for the property and the money] (102.1)[(that) (e)he had given to each]. (103)[And the one(b)
(103.1)[who(e)had been given 500,000 shillings] came] (104)[and (he) (b) said]: (105)[ ‘My lord and master , you(c) left me
with capital of 500,000 shillings]. (106)[I (a) have doubled it.]’ (107)[And the lord(b) was truly amazed,] (108)[and he(b)
exclaimed: ‘100 per cent profit? A fantastic rate of profit!] (109)[You (b) have done well, you good and faithful servant].
(110)[You(a) have proved] (110.1)[that you(f)can be trusted with a little property]. (111)[I(a)shall make you an overseer of
many enterprises]. (112)[Come(a)] (113)[and share(b) in your lord’s happiness and prosperity]. (114)[I(a)shall make you
managing director of the local branches of my banks here] (115)[and I(b)shall appoint you a director of certain
companies]. (116)[You(a) will also acquire a few shares in the same companies]. (117)[From today(a+) I shall not let my face
be too visible]. (118)[You(a)shall represent me in this country].’
(119)[And the one(b) (119.1)[who(e)had been given 200,000shillings] came] (120)[and (he)told the master]: (121)‘[My lord and
master, you(c) left me with 200,000 shillings]. (122)[Behold, your capital(c) has yielded another 200,000 shillings].’
(123)[And the lord(b) spoke] (124)[and (he)(b) said: ] (125) [ ‘Wonderful, this(c) is really wonderful: such a rising rate of
profit! A stable country for investment]. (126)[You(a) have done well, you good and faithful servant]. (127)[You (a) have
proved] (127.1)[that you (f)can be trusted with a little property]; (128)[so now(b+) I shall make you an overseer of many
enterprises]. (129)[Share (a) in the happiness and prosperity of your master].(130)[I (a)shall make you a sales director of
the local branches of my industries, and a director of many other companies] (130.1)[that(e) I shall show you]. (131)[You
too(a)will also acquire a token of shares in the same companies]. (132)[From today(a+)I shall hide my face]. (133)[I(a) shall
stay behind the scenes], (134)[and you(b)will stand at the door and at the windows], (135)[so that it (b)is your face]
(135.1)[that(e)will always be visible]. (136)[You(a)will be the watchdog of my investments in your country].’
(137)[And the one(137.1)[who (e) had been given 100,000 shillings] stepped forward] (138)[and (he)(b) told his master]:
(139)‘[You, lord and master, member of the white race; I (c) have discovered your trick!](140)[I (a) have also discovered
your real name]. (141) [Imperialist ,that’s(c) your real name], )(142) [and you(b) are a cruel master]. (143) [Why(a)?] (144)
[Because you (b) reap (in a place)] (144.1) [where(e)you have never sown]. (145) [You(a) grab things] (145.1)[over which(e)
you have never shed any sweat]. (146) [You(a) have appointed yourself the distributor of things] (146.1) [which(e) you have
never helped to produce]. (147) [Why(a)?] (148)[Just because you(d) are the owner of capital]. (149)[And soI (b) went]
(150)[and (I) (b) buried your money in the ground to see] (151) [if your money(b) would yield anything] (152) [without (it) (b)
being fertilized by my sweat or that of any other man]. (153) [Behold, here(c) is your 100,000 shillings], (154)[(as) exactly
as you (b) left it]. (155) [I(a) now give you back your capital]. (156) [Count(a) it] (157)[and check (b)(157.1) [that a single cent (f)
is missing]. (158) [The most remarkable thing(s) was this]: (159) [my own sweat(a) provided me with food to eat, water to
drink, and a shelter in which to sleep]. (160) [Ha!I(c)’ll never kneel down before the lifeless god of capital again]. (161)
[I(a)will be a slave no more]. (162) [My eyes(a) have now been opened]. (163)[If today(b+) I joined hands with all the others]
(163.1) [who(e) have opted to be masters over their own sweat], (164) [there(a)would be no limit to the wealth] (164.1)[(that) (e)
we could produce for our people and our country].

(165) [The master (a) looked at him with much bitterness in his eyes, with much pain in his heart]. (166) [Then he(b)
spoke to him]: (167)[‘You bad, unfaithful and lazy servant, member of the rebellious clan!(*)Could you not(c) have put
the money into a bank] (168) [or (Could you not)(c)left it in the hands of those] (168.1) [who(e) trade in money], (169)[so that
on coming back (b+) I would reap just a little interest?] (170) [Do you(c) know] (170.1) [how it(f)hurts me to find] (170.1.1)
IJALEL 5(5):215-227, 2016 227
[that you(f)buried my capital in a grave, like a corpse?] (171) [And who(b)has revealed the secret of my name?] (172)
[Who(a) has advised you to reject me], (173)[just becauseI(d) reap (in a place)] (173.1) [where I(e) have never sown] (174)
[and (I)(b) profit by things](174.1) [over which(e) I have never shed any sweat?] (175) [Who (a) has told you] (175.1)[that
harvesting and husbandry(f) is not hard work?] (176) [No!You black people(c)are incapable of planning and working out
ways of cutting the ropes] (176.1) [that(e) tie you to your masters]. (177) [You(a)must therefore have been misled by
communists]. (178) [You (a) must have got those dangerous thoughts from the party of workers and peasants]. (179) [Yes,
your mind(c) is poisoned with communist notions]. (180) [Communism....You(c) have become a real threat to the peace
and stability] (180.1) [that (e) used to exist in this country for me and my local representatives, the local guardians of my
property]. (181) [Now(a+)you are going to feel the heat of such a fire] (182) [as will make(d) you forget my real name
forever]. (183) [Arrest (a) him, now], (184) [before he(b) spreads these poisonous thoughts to other workers and peasants],
(185) [and teaches(b) them] (185.1) [that the power of organized unity(f) is stronger] (185.2) [ than all my bombs and
armoured vehicles(b) (are) !](186)[Take away (a) even the little] (186.1) [that(e) he has], (187) [and divide(b) it among
yourselves]. (188) [For unto the man of property (b+) more will be given], (189) [but from the poor man (b+)will be taken
even the little] (189.1)[that(e)he has kept in reserve]. (190)[That (a)is the most important of all my commandments].
(191)[What(a+)are you people waiting for?] (192)[Go (a)](193)[and get(b)the police and the military to arrest this fellow]
(193.1)[who(e) has the audacity to reject slavery]. (194)[Throw(a) him into jail or into everlasting darkness], (195)[so that his
family(b) will harvest only tears and the gnashing of teeth!] (196)[‘Good! Good!You people(c) have done a fine job].
(197)[Mete out(a)the same treatment to all such rebels], (198)[so that the other workers(b) will be too scared to strike for
higher wages or to take up arms to smash the chains of slavery.]’

(199)[ ‘As for you , from now on(a+) I shall no longer call you slaves or servants in public]. (200)[Now(a+)you are truly my
friends] . (201) [Why(a)?] (202)[Because even after I (b) had given you back the keys to your country], (203) [you (a)
continued to fulfill my commandments and to protect my property, making my capital yield a higher rate of profit] (204)
[than was(b+) the case] (205) [when I(b) myself used to carry the keys]. (206) [Therefore I (b)shall not call you servants
again?] (207) [For a servant (b) does not know the aims and thoughts of his master]. (208) [But I(b)call you my friends] (209)
[because you (b) know–(210) [and I(b)shall continue to let you know] –all my plans for this country], (211) [and I(b)shall
give you some] (211.1) [of what (e) I acquire], (212) [so that you(b) will have the strength and the motivation to break the
skulls of those] (212.1) [who(e) talk about the “masses” with any measure of seriousness]. (213) [Long live (c) peace, love
and unity between me and my local representatives!] (214) [What (a) is so bad about that?] (215) [You (a) bite twice] (216)
[and I(b)bite four times]. (217) [We(a)’ll fool the gullible masses]. (218) [Long live(c) stability for progress!] (219) [Long live(c)
progress for profit!] (220) [Long live ((c) foreigners and foreign expatriates!] (pp. 82-86.)
Task-based Instruction and Vocabulary Learning:

A Comparative Study of Jigsaw and Information Gap Tasks
on Vocabulary Learning
Hooshang Khoshsima
English Language Department, Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Iran
Amin Saed (Corresponding author)

English Language Department, Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Iran
E-mail: Amin.Saed@ cmu.ac.ir

Abstract
This study investigated Iranian intermediate EFL learners’ vocabulary learning within the paradigm of Task Based
Language Teaching through instructing jigsaw and information-gap tasks. To this end, 60 intermediate EFL learners
were selected. They were all female and their age range was between 16-17 years old. Then the experimental groups in
which one group with the use of jigsaw and one with information-gap received task based instruction for one session
each week for five weeks, while the control group experienced the same amount of instruction as ordinary classes. At
the end of the study, all subjects were assigned a 50-item multiple choice vocabulary test. A one-way ANOVA was
used to analyze the data. The results indicated that TBI had a significant effect (p=.000< .05) on promoting vocabulary
knowledge of Iranian intermediate EFL learners; there existed a significant difference between the experimental groups’
performances in the assigned tests, as well. The main pedagogical implication of this study is for teachers in that by
involving learners in task completion and enjoying the process, learners can improve their vocabulary knowledge and
accordingly their language proficiency.
Keywords: Task-based instruction, information-gap, jigsaw task, implicit learning, explicit learning
1. Introduction
Vocabulary acquisition plays a vital role in learning languages. It is a fundamental component of language proficiency
and provides much of the basis for how well learners listen, speak, write and read (Richards &Renandya, 2002). In past
years, this part of language teaching was neglected and it was due to the thought that vocabulary could be left to take
care of itself. Recently numerous studies have investigated English learning and most emphasized the importance of
vocabulary learning (Decarrico, 2011). As Wilkins (1976) stated, without grammar very little can be conveyed but
without vocabulary nothing can be understood. He also pointed out the importance of vocabulary in communication.
Insufficient vocabulary knowledge or vocabulary difficulty results in communicational failure. Having good language
skills is very important in order to have fluent communication. These skills include listening, speaking, reading and
writing. Huckin, Haynes and Coday (1993) indicated that reading ability and vocabulary knowledge are two of the most
important components of performance on second language and depend on another one. Poor vocabulary knowledge
leads to misunderstanding and consequently unsuccessful communication. By developing the knowledge of vocabulary,
achieving communicative competence in a second language can be enhanced. It is part of every language skill and
improving it leads to the enhancement of communicative competence. It also has a strong impact on reading
comprehension and as it is obvious, without comprehension, there is no learning.
Based on National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000), vocabulary is identified as one of five major components of reading:
phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary development and reading comprehension.
So people with larger vocabularies tend to be better readers. Learners` difficulty in reading comprehension in some part
is connected to their lack of word knowledge. The importance of vocabulary knowledge to overall language learning
success and more specifically to reading comprehension is documented (Anderson & Nagy, 1991 Baker, Simmons, &
Kame-ennui, 1998).
The low status of vocabulary mostly was due to the language teaching approaches that were based on American
linguistic theories. These approaches emphasized grammatical and phonological structure. Approaches of that time paid
systematic attention to basic sentence patterns because they believe that grammar should be the starting point of
IJALEL 5(5):228-236, 2016 229
language learning. In these approaches in fact vocabulary learning receives no attention. With the advent of generative
linguistic in 1960s, there was a shift in linguistic theory but still little challenge to the secondary role of vocabulary.
Approaches based on generativist just give more importance to vocabulary (Carter & McCarthy, 1988: as cited in
Decarrico, 2011). With the emergence of communicative competence of Hymes in 1972, language teaching pedagogy
has experienced approaches such as communicative language teaching and so on. As Smith (2000) pointed out such
approaches promoted fluency over accuracy and there was a shift of focus to discourse level but still again vocabulary
was given secondary role.
Recently vocabulary studies and researchers have developed and more emphasis is put on the role of vocabulary
knowledge while learning another language. According to Zimmerman (as cited in Decarrio, 2001), in the 1980s there
has been a reorientation in language description which has led many scholars to rethink of language and the role of
vocabulary. The result of these studies was the debate over whether vocabulary should be taught explicitly or implicitly.
Interest in such psycholinguistic processes of vocabulary learning led to studies about developing more effective
vocabulary teaching and learning strategies (Marianne Celce-Murica, 2001). Among these approaches communicative
approach led to a focus on implicit learning.
While in explicit learning students engage in vocabulary activities, in implicit learning mind is focused elsewhere and
vocabulary is learnt incidentally (Murcia, 2001).Due to the emergence of communicative approaches we have task –
based language teaching and as Willis(1996) pointed out it is the development of communicative language teaching. It
is believed that task provide learners with a natural context (Nunan, 1989). Task gives abundant opportunity of
interaction to learners and through which they learn language (Freeman, 2003).
Despite the fact that many tasks have been designed for pedagogic purposes, it is only in recent years that language
teaching researches have shown tendency in working what kinds of tasks can improve language learning process. As
Prabhu (1987) indicates, there are three major types of tasks according to the type of cognitive activity involved. They
are; information-gap tasks, reasoning gap tasks and jigsaw tasks. This study tries to investigate the role of the first one
and the third task on learning and recalling vocabulary.
1.1 Statement of the problem
Recently because of the importance of vocabulary knowledge, much more focus has been put on the studies and
researches regarding vocabulary learning. The most effective procedures that second language learners use to retain the
vocabulary are not still clear (Sanaoui, 1995). As the results of most language tests offer, vocabulary is one of the
toughest areas of language to be learnt and the easiest area to be forgotten. The area demands great efforts on the part of
the learners who must retain the new words that they hear or see to be able to bring them into use.
However, what plays the most vital role in helping learners successfully retain and remember new words is the type of
instruction they receive by the language teacher. While some language teachers provide the learners with list of new
words and ask them to memorize such long lists, some others engage their learners in vocabulary learning process by
asking them to read intensive texts, talk about the definition of new words in their small groups and provide some
examples of the word.
Despite the works that have been done in the case of alleviating the problem of vocabulary learning and teaching, there
are still learners who have serious problems with learning and retaining vocabularies. Whereas some think of the
participatory approaches such as task-based ones (negotiating word meaning) to be more effective than classical
approaches (translating words for learners), the results of some studies reveled the superiority of translation learning in
terms of quantity (Prince, 1996). On the other hand, some researches proved that learners look for equivalences of
meaning even when the contexts in which the words are used in different languages clearly diverge (McCarthy, 1992) .
Due to the importance of vocabulary knowledge and its contribution to the mastery of other skills of language learning,
especially its close relevancy to reading comprehension, the researcher decided to conduct this study in order to
investigate the role of task (most importantly information-gap task and jigsaw task) on learning and retaining
vocabulary to see whether it can help learners in better learning and retention of them in comparison to learning them
through classical techniques. The research attempted to examine the following question:
Do jigsaw and information gap tasks have any significant impact on learning and retaining vocabulary of Iranian EFL
learners?
Vocabulary teaching and learning is a constant challenge for both teachers and students because historically minimal
attention has been paid to vocabulary instruction in teaching English as a second language(ESL) classroom. For years,
the familiar methodology for learning a second language was first to pay attention to grammar and sentences and then to
vocabulary. In fact grammar was viewed as the main task and mastery of its structures was the primary goal in second
language acquisition (SLA). In contrast vocabulary development was approached as some kind of auxiliary activity
while it is important in expressing ideas and thoughts. Vocabulary knowledge is essential when using a foreign
language since no one is able to communicate without words. Wilkins (1976), verifies the importance of vocabulary in
communication. He declared insufficient vocabulary will results in communication barriers or failures; without the
mediation of vocabulary no grammatical or other types of linguistic knowledge can be employed in second language,
communication or discourse. Nation`s statement (cited in Nation and Waring,1997) also explained its importance;
“vocabulary knowledge enables language use, language use enables the increase of vocabulary knowledge, knowledge
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of the world enables the increase of vocabulary knowledge, language use and so on(p.6). The crucial role that lexis
plays in second language learning and teaching has been repeatedly recognized in theoretical and empirical second
language acquisition (SLA) vocabulary research.
Hence, in the introduction of his seminal book on the mental lexicon, Singleton states that “the major challenge of
learning and using a language- whether as L1 or as L2- lies not in the area of the broad syntactic principles but in the
“nitty- gritty” of the lexicon” (Singleton, 1999, p. 4), an idea which is also shared by Hunt and Beglar (2005, p. 2), who
argue that “ the heart of language comprehension and use is lexicon”.
Other authors have gone even further in debating that “the single most important task facing language learners is
acquiring a sufficient large vocabulary” (Lewis, 2000, p. 8) , or that the most noticeable difference between native
speakers and foreign learners is in the amount of vocabulary they know or in their word knowledge (Laufer, 1998).
From perspective of pedagogy, questions have developed around the “what” and “how” of vocabulary teaching (Read
J., 2004). Much attention has been allocated to verifying the best pedagogical practices in improving students` lexical
development. A general discussion in SLA research is related to the nature and function of explicit and implicit learning
processes (Sanchez & Manchonn, 2007); one issue is whether or not implicit attention in vocabulary acquisition is
necessary (Nation P. , 2005 ;Coday & Huckin, 1997). The general agreement seems to be a compromise between
explicit and implicit lexical instruction. The former would be implemented through activities such as the study of
decontextualised lexis, the use of dictionaries and so on (Hunt & Beglar, 2005), while implicit instruction would
involve engaging students in language use activities, especially reading and listening. In fact Nation (2005, p. 585)
summerized it in his own declaration that “ every course should involve some deliberate attention to vocabulary as well
as opportunities to meet the words in meaning-focused use”.Consequently, through the evolution of language teaching
and learning methods and approaches, vocabulary came to its own. TBLT with a focus on employing authentic material,
involving learners in real-like activities and enjoying the support of some robust perspectives tend to significantly
promote EFL vocabulary knowledge.
Richards and Rodgers (2001) indicated that task-based instruction tries to teach vocabulary both directly and indirectly
in a natural context. Vocabulary like other aspects of language learning can be facilitated when done via cooperative
learning.
It is indicated that leaning vocabulary is a very learner-centered activity (Mehring, 2005). Many done researches,
proved that learners in a cooperative atmosphere learn better because they feel more relaxed and learn more from peers
since making mistakes is accepted and it can be fun.
2.1 Vocabulary teaching strategies
Over the last decades, researchers have shown that vocabulary teaching plays an important role in comprehending what
language learners read and in what they write or say (McCarthy, 1992) . It is important to know which vocabulary
technique is the most effective and advantageous one. Vocabulary instruction includes different techniques ranging
from translation of word and giving definitions to filing in the gaps and matching. Each technique also consists of
different stages of practice to fix the words in the learners` mind.
Generally, this instruction consists of various strategies. In this research, the researcher is going to examine the impact
of two kinds of techniques. One is classical method and its classical techniques and the other one is the use of task-
based instruction, mostly information-gap and jigsaw one which involves learners in the process.
Task can be as broad as mastering a second or foreign language or as specific as recalling the meaning of a word. For
instance, in vocabulary learning process, learning a word in a word list is different from learning the same word in a
passage.
It also must be noted that remembering a word meaning is completely different from being able to use the same word in
real life situation. Therefore, the researcher is going to show which method is superior to the other, and is more
effective in helping learners to be able to use the learned words in such situations.
2.1.1 Translation
Translation requires no demand on the part of instructor to teach as well as learners to learn a new word. Translation as
a technique of teaching new words to the second and foreign language learners may be regarded as a simple technique,
but there arouse a big question in regard of its efficiency, whether it works or not. The most important aim of learning a
new word is being able to use the same word in the upcoming situations.
2.1.2 Using dictionary
There has been a debate of whether a dictionary should be used in the second or foreign language classroom between
language teachers and researchers. Empirical researches on the impact of using dictionary on vocabulary learning have
focused on the comparison between the usefulness of dictionaries and that of guessing (Knight, 1994). Generally,
results of these studies favored the contextual guessing approach (Crist, 1981). However, in recent years researchers
have witnessed a shift of interest in dictionary research in L2 context, for example (e.g. Hulstijn, 1996; Knight, 1994;
Laufer, 1998). In 1994(Knight) found that while incidental vocabulary learning through contextual guessing took place,
those learners who had used a dictionary had not only learned more words immediately after reading but also could
remember the words more after two weeks.
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The advantage of using dictionary was confirmed to be true in a study of 293 Japanese EFL university students done by
Luppescu & Day (1993). Their participants were randomly assigned to a treatment (dictionary group) and a control
group. Participants were asked to read a short story in class. The treatment group used a bilingual dictionary and the
control one was not permitted to use any.
Then both groups were tested and the results suggested an advantage for treatment group in learning vocabulary, but
they took almost twice as long to read the text as did control group. Therefore, it is not crystal clear whether using
dictionary is beneficial or not.
2.1.3 Memorization of word lists
One of the other techniques of learning a new word is the memorization of the new words, although it seems to be more
a stage of doing exercise for putting words in mind rather than a technique of learning. Learners simply repeat new
words until they can recognize them. It seems that not only researchers have not done enough research in this field but
also most of researches that have been done in this area were carried out before 1970s.
2.2 Vocabulary in Task-Based Approach
Task-base language teaching can be regarded as a recent version of communicative methodology. Its application dates
back to two main projects: Malaysian communicational project and Bangalore project (Richards & Rodgers, 2001).
The role of TBLT has gained more support by scholars such as Long and Crooks (1992) who were interested in
pedagogical application of second language acquisition theory.
They believed that this methodology received more attention in mid-1980s as a SLA research tool. It also was believed
that engaging learners in tasks provides a better context for activation of learning processes and hence provides a better
condition of language learning to take place. As it was mentioned, TBLT is considered to have common principles with
communicative language teaching(CLT) but here the main importance is given to the task as the central unit of
instruction. In TBLT and other methods derived from CLT learners use English to learn it (Freeman, 2003). These
approaches, as Skehan(1998) argues, emphasized the meaning and tasks are assessed based on their outcomes.
2.2.1 Task types and their characteristic
In TBLT literature, there are many kinds of task categories since TBLT has been considering a vogue in language
teaching field; writers have studied it from different outlooks. The Bangalore project, one of the earliest curricular
applications of TBLT, provides three principal task types: information gap, reasoning gap, and opinion gap.
Another typology that appeared almost at the same time was proposed by Pattison as’ questions and answers, dialogues
and role plays, matching activities, communication strategies, pictures and picture stories, puzzles and problems and
discussions and decisions (Nunan, 2006, p.56). Willis proposed six task types termed: listing, ordering, sorting,
comparing, problem solving, sharing personal experiences, and creative tasks (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 234).
Lately, Richards has proposed five pedagogical tasks, namely, jigsaw tasks; information-gap tasks; problem-solving
tasks; decision-making tasks, and opinion exchange tasks (quoted in Nunan, 2006, p. 58).
Robinson (1991) looked at task characteristics differently and suggested three groups of factors that are important in
designing tasks. He distinguished "task complexity that depends on cognitive demand of tasks", "task difficulty that
depends on learner factors such as aptitude, confidence, motivation, etc., and "task conditions that depends on the
interactive demands of tasks" , such as familiarity of participants and whether tasks demand one-way or two-way
information exchange (p. 287).
He argues that these factors influence task performance and learning. Comparing to the other groupings listed above,
Richard’s categories contains following advantages: 1) items in the group are distinct from one another; 2) it is easier to
understand the content of tasks based on their names; 3) they covers different characteristics of tasks (Song Vanlu,
2011). Therefore, his definition was used in the present study.
Since tasks have been classified into various categories, it is necessary to know how to compare them. Pica et al
propose that tasks are distinct from or connected with regard to the following features: 1) One-way or two-way: whether
there is mutual exchange of information among participants when tasks are carried out. 2) Convergent or divergent:
whether participants achieve the same goal or different goals. 3) Collaborative or competitive: whether participants
carry out a task in a cooperative or competitive fashion. 4) Single or multiple outcomes: whether there is only one or
multiple outcomes are possible. 5) Concrete or abstract language: whether the language used in the task is concrete or
abstract. 6) Simple or complex processing: whether it is required a simple or complex cognitive process to complete a
task. 7) Simple or complex language: whether task completion requires simple or complex language use. 8) Reality-
based or not reality-based: whether the task related to real-life tasks (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p. 235).
2.3 Previous research on TBLT
“Tasks do not take place in a vacuum; nevertheless, until recently, much of the task-base learning and teaching
literature has had a tendency to treat them as if they did. Few studies have taken place in intact classes (Samuda, 2001).
Yuan and Ellis conduct a study concerning the effect of time limit of a task on learners’ performance in terms of their
linguistic complexity and accuracy.
The results show that learners who are given unlimited time to perform are required to perform the same task under
time pressure (quoted in, 2006, p. 27). Foster and Skehan (2006) investigated the influence of task types and task
planning on linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity. They found that planning influences learners` outcome in
IJALEL 5(5):228-236, 2016 232
terms of fluency and complexity, but not on accuracy (Oxford, 2006). There also are some other studies demonstrating
the connection between task itself and learners` vocabulary acquisition, which are similar to the present study. Ellis and
Heimbach investigated the relation between meaning negotiation and comprehension, demonstrating that the task with
opportunity to interaction facilitates children’s understanding (Bygate et al, 2001). As cited in Ellis (2001) “Ellis (1994)
investigated the influence of different types of task input on comprehension of directives containing target words. The
results of this study showed that learners receiving modified input outperform their counterpart with simplified input on
vocabulary acquisition”, (p.60). Newton went a step further and compared the impact of different types of task on
vocabulary acquisition, demonstrated that a split information task results in more vocabulary gain (quoted in Ellis,
2003, p.87).
3. Method
3.1 Method and design of the study
This study was set out to explore whether applying TBI to intermediate Iranian EFL learners has any influence on
improving their vocabulary knowledge or not and make them ready to encounter real world out of classroom for
effective communication. Furthermore, it made a comparison between the effect of jigsaw task and information-gap.
It is a quantitative study as it was done to compare the effects of TBI on the subjects` vocabulary knowledge and to find
out the difference between the influences of two kinds of tasks on learners of this study. Furthermore, it aimed to
scrutinize subjects` attitudes toward implemented tasks.
Sixty intermediate EFL learners were selected and assigned into three different groups, two experimental ones and a
control one. They were all female and their age range was between 16-17 years old. Prior to the study, all subjects were
given a TOEFL the proficiency test to ensure their level as intermediate language learners. The participants who scored
at the intermediate level, based on the point scale of TOEFL test, entered the experiment.
The next pre-test, which learners took, was a vocabulary test based on course materials (English Book 3). According to
what Song (2011) has done, the aim of this pre-test was to indicate the unknown words to the researcher. Then the
“experimental groups”, (one group with the use of jigsaw and one with information-gap) received task based instruction
for one session each week for five weeks, while the “control group” experienced the same amount of instruction as
ordinary classes. After each session, the experimental groups were tested with an immediate posttest. The delayed
posttest was held some days after completing the instruction.
It is suggested that several-day lapse will allow the items of test to be forgotten so that pupils will not recognize them
when they are encountered (Hulstijn, 1996, p. 351). The aim of these posttests was to investigate the degree of
difference between tasks` impacts on learning vocabulary. Finally, at the end of instruction, all of the subjects in the
experimental groups and control one were post-tested through a multiple choice vocabulary test.
3.2 Participants
All participants of this study were Iranian female EFL learners between the age ranges of 17-18 and were native
speakers of Persian who were participating in English classes of third grade of high school at Shahid Dastgheyb high
school in Shiraz, Fars.
All the subjects had had the same amount of exposure to materials before the experiment and all of them had studied
English in the same school. Therefore, they were judged to be almost at the same level of language proficiency, namely
intermediate level of English proficiency: however, their level was established via implementing TOEFL proficiency
test. They were 60 randomly chosen high school students who were divided into three groups: 20 in control group, 20 in
jigsaw and 20 in information-gap group. The list of unknown words to be worked on through the instruction was
ensured by the use of vocabulary word list as the pre-test. This study involved just females, so gender difference was
not considered in this study.
3.3 Treatment procedure
The instructional part of this study was conducted on Thursdays as extra classes for third-grade female high school
students. None of the subjects was informed about the aim of these classes. First of all, authorities of the high school
asked the researcher to observe regular English classes of high school in order to get familiar with routines of such
classes to be able to conduct control group as well as possible. Subjects were put into three classes and it was done
randomly without any bias, but before administrating the TOEFL and vocabulary test, they were not aware of these
classes. After ensuring their homogeneity, the students were informed about groups and were told which class they had
to attend. They were put into two experimental groups and one control group. All the classes consisted of twenty
subjects.
All the subjects in groups received the same amount of materials, only the treatment was different. The experimental
groups attended separate sessions before starting classes in order to be justified about tasks and how the techniques
should be done. The first group was called group A (the jigsaw group), the second one B (the information-gap group)
and the third one group C (control group). Group C worked on vocabularies with ordinary traditional method.
Almost 10 new words were worked on in each session and this was done in all groups. Every session took about 90
minutes; nearly 30 to 35 minutes of every session was spent on vocabulary teaching. In experimental groups, target
words that might have facilitated subjects` task completion were presented on board with their definitions and sample
IJALEL 5(5):228-236, 2016 233
sentences. The instructor pre-taught new words in this phase. It should be mentioned that the definitions and sample
sentences written on board were removed during task completion.
In group A, depending on the segments of the task, students were put either to five groups of four or in pairs. Every
student in every group was given a segment, and then temporarily they were put in expert groups with those having the
same segment. They were asked to work on their parts in expert groups to become the master of their own part because
they were going to get back to their original groups. After participating in expert groups, they returned to their original
groups in order to explain their part to the other members of group. Then different pictures were put on the board and
each group was asked to write the name of the possible picture, which matched the task, on which they had worked.
Mostly in case that they were put in pairs, they received different but incomplete pictures and based on their partner`s
description they were asked to complete their pictures; finally each group had to choose the best picture which matched
the whole description. In fact, when they finished the task they were required to choose one possible picture related to
completed task presented on the whiteboard.
In group B, always the teacher himself described the task and gave the description for the incomplete picture. Pupils had
to take notes based on the instructor`s description in order to use them in completing their pictures. After finishing the
task, each pupil was asked to choose the possible picture for the description. The pictures were presented on the board
and they were asked to match their own picture with the correct one among those on the board.
3.4 Instruments
Three instruments were employed in this study: 1. A TOEFL proficiency test, 2. A vocabulary test based on course
materials (English Book 3) and some pictures, 3. SPSS software
4. Data analysis
4.1 Performance of subjects` on TOEFL pre-test
All subjects took TOEFL proficiency test to ensure they were intermediate EFL learners. Table 1 displays the TOEFL
pre-test results. The estimated language proficiency mean of all participants amounted to 435.57 which indicated them
as intermediate learners.
Table 1. Results of TOEFL proficiency pre-test

N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
score 60 435.57 39.041 5.040
The results of this table indicate that all of the subjects are in the intermediate level (M=435.57) and ready to be put into
different groups as control group, information-gap group and jigsaw group.
4.2 Performance of groups in TOEFL proficiency pre-test
After assigning all subjects as intermediate students, the researcher administered the test of homogeneity of variances
between groups to ensure their comparability at the beginning of the study. Table 2 presents the result of this test.
Table 2. Test of homogeneity of variances

Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig.
.191 2 57 .826
In this table the reported sig. is (P>.05) 0.826 > .05 which is larger than 0.05. Therefore, there was no significant
difference between these groups at the beginning of the instruction and they were comparable.
4.3 Data Analysis for Research Questions
The first research question of this study dealt with the impact of TBI on vocabulary learning of intermediate Iranian
EFL learners. It was hypothesized that this instruction (TBI) has no significant effect on intermediate Iranian EFL
learners` vocabulary learning.
As it was mentioned in the previous chapter of this research, the subjects of this study were put into three groups of
twenty. Experimental groups were involved in five task-based vocabulary-learning sessions. The control group
benefited the same amount of time and sessions of vocabulary learning practice without being involved in TBI. Every
session subjects worked on learning ten vocabularies; experimental groups with the application of jigsaw task and
information-gap task and the control group was conducted as ordinary English classes. Every session took 30 to 35
minutes working on ten selected vocabularies. After completion of the whole instruction, all the subjects participated in
a multiple choice 50 –item vocabulary test. There were three sets of scores (belonging to control group and two
experimental groups) for the vocabulary learning gains of the whole instruction.
All scores were out of 50 for each subject and all the mean scores below were calculated out of 50 as well. One-way
ANOVA was inferential statistic run for scores taken from 50-item vocabulary test. This one-way between subjects
IJALEL 5(5):228-236, 2016 234
ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of TBI on Iranian intermediate EFL learners` vocabulary learning in
jigsaw and information-gap conducted classes and non-TBI conducted class condition. There was a significant effect of
TBI on learners` vocabulary learning at the p<.05 level for the three conditions F (2, 57) = 692.55, P= .000). Table 3
and 4 reveals these findings.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics for mean difference of groups

N Mean Std. Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval Minimum Maximum
Deviation for Mean
Lower Upper
Bound Bound
jigsaw 20 38.85 2.007 .449 37.91 39.79 35 42
info gap 20 19.10 2.269 .507 18.04 20.16 15 24
control 20 15.10 2.198 .492 14.07 16.13 12 20
Total 60 24.35 10.683 1.379 21.59 27.11 12 42
Table 4. ANOVA statistics
df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups 2 3233.750 692.556 .000
Within Groups 57 4.669
Total 59
Table 3 reveals the mean and standard deviation for jigsaw, Information-gap and control groups. They are reported as
(M=38.85, SD= 2.00), (M= 19.10, SD= 2.26) and (M=15.10, SD= 2.19) for these three groups respectively. Therefore,
the mean score for jigsaw group significantly differs from the other two groups.
The mean score of information-gap group also significantly is different from that of control group but not that much
significant like the jigsaw group. Table 4 reveals that there is a significant difference between groups therefore because
of statistically significant results, it was needed to compute post hoc test. The Tukey post hoc test was selected. This test
compared the TBI and non-TBI conditions. It also compared the two TBI conditions.
The post hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test indicates that the mean difference score between jigsaw group and
the other two groups is higher. There also is a difference between mean scores of information-gap group and control
group.
The results of post hoc test presented a significant difference between TBI classes and control group at the level of
p<.05. So based on these findings the null hypothesis related to the existence of no difference on learners vocabulary
learning based on the use of TBI was rejected; the findings presented in the tables proved the impact of TBI on
improving learners’ learning and retaining vocabulary.
5. Discussion& conclusion
The mean score results of the implemented one-way ANOVA indicated that the treated groups significantly (p≤ .05)
outperformed the control group in the 50-item vocabulary test which was administered to all of the subjects of this
study. Therefore, the first null hypothesis was rejected because based on statistics of tables 4.
3 and 4.4; TBI had significantly affected intermediate EFL learners` vocabulary learning. Moreover, the reported mean
and standard deviation scores of the 10-item tests, which were given only to experimental groups after each session,
illustrated a significant difference (p≤ .05) between treated groups` performances in these tests. The results of the five
performed independent T-tests showed that information-gap pupils outperformed those in the other group worked with
jigsaw task. After implementation of one-way ANOVA a post hoc test was also done. The derived statistics of this test
showed that there also was a significant difference between the treated groups` performance on this last 50-item test. In
fact there was a high mean difference (MD= 19.75) between them.
Due to the importance of English as an international language, people rush towards learning this language. Accordingly,
research on all aspects of ESL teaching is increasing rapidly, as is demonstrated by publication of a large number of
books with this subject all around the world. Many books on this subject would be found in well-stocked bookshops.
The role of vocabulary is crucial in language teaching. Recent studies of ESL acquisition suggest a heavy concentration
on vocabulary learning, demonstrating that vocabulary is a prerequisite for later proficiency in the language (Thornbury,
2002, p. 160). Various language teaching methods and approaches appeared and after a while of time faded away.
Moreover, none of these methodologies noticed the importance of the use of authentic materials or involving learners in
the learning process in ESL/EFL context. TBLT with a novel view had a special focus on employing authentic
IJALEL 5(5):228-236, 2016 235
materials, involving learners in task completion and enjoying robust theoretical foundations could have a remarkable
effect on successful teaching and learning vocabulary.
As mentioned before, TBI has enjoyed considerable popularity in different parts of the world during the past two
decades. A series of studies of TBLT has been conducted and various articles and theses are published. Many of these
studies just investigate the impact of TBLT on language learning. The present study was an attempt to clarify the impact
of task-based language instruction on Iranian intermediate EFL learners` vocabulary learning. Moreover, the differences
between the impact of the two implemented tasks and their relation with pupils` vocabulary learning and recalling in
addition to considering the impact of TBI in vocabulary learning was discussed. In fact at first, it aimed to establish the
effect of task-based instruction on vocabulary learning and then to set up which of these two tasks, jigsaw or
information-gap, best promoted learners` vocabulary learning and recalling. At last, it investigated the degree of
effectiveness of these two tasks on experimental pupils` attitude and motivation towards vocabulary learning.
Introduction, the related concepts and studies, the employed methodology and the obtained results, all were discussed
and delineated in the previous chapters in detail.
The findings of this study are in agreement with the existing studies in the literature, which revealed that TBI could
make better learners` vocabulary knowledge. Besides, this study showed that information-gap task affected recalling
vocabulary for a short time while jigsaw task improved long term recalling of vocabulary. Therefore, it also is in line
with the findings of all studies showing the usefulness of pupils` involvement in process of learning. Learners were
engaged in completing the task especially those who worked with jigsaw task. Due to the nature of this task, pupils are
completely involved in task completion and indirectly they learn vocabularies.
According to the results, it can be concluded that the experimental groups outperformed control group due to the TBI
utilized for them as the treatment. So it can be justified that tasks are in accordance with the shift toward the utilization
of authentic material and learner`s involvement. It also should be noted that due to the statistical results, the degree of
learners` involvement in task completion is effective in learning and recalling vocabulary.
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Theoretical Basics of the Transpositional Grammar of

Russian Language
Victor Vasilievich Shigurov (Corresponding author)
Ogarev Mordovia State University, Russian Federation
Tatyana Alexeevna Shigurova

Ogarev Mordovia State University, Russian Federation

Abstract
The article presents the theoretical basics of the transpositional grammar of the Russian language (as the special areas of
the functional grammar), which serves as a mechanism for describing the subject of the transposition of the linguistic
units from one class (or interclass semantic-syntactic category) to another (or others). The relation to the transposition
of the grammar and vocabulary (word-formation) was displayed; a typology of the transpositional processes in
grammatical structure of the Russian language was submitted, and above all, in the parts of the speech and inter part-of-
speech classes, grammatical categories and lexical-grammatical classes; general and specific objectives of the study
types of transposition of the linguistic units were defined; the fragments of the description of the transition and
syncretism of the language units were offered using the technique of opposition analysis and indexation. The results can
be used in the development of the theory of the transpositional grammar of the Russian language.
Keywords: the Russian language, transpositional grammar, theoretical basics, part of speech, inter part-of-speech class,
syncretism
1. Introduction
One of the current problems of the modern linguistics is the creation of the transpositional grammar of the Russian
language (as a special branch of the functional grammar), where the nature and purpose of the mechanism of the
transposition in the Russian language will be studied; relation to the grammar and vocabulary will be shown; a
typology of the transpositional processes in the field of the part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech syntactic-semantic
classes, as well as the grammatical categories and lexica-grammatical types will be developed; the types of the
functional and functional-semantic homonyms will be identified and characterized, as well as the syncretic entities,
representing different stages of the transition of words and phrases from one part of speech to another; heterogeneous
speech patterns will be described, using the methods of the mathematical processing of the material, the indices of the
different levels (degrees) part-of-speech transposition of the lexical units caught in the zone of influence (interaction)
of three or more classes of words with the "inclusion" into several transpositional processes, among which is the one
of the dominant type of transposition (e.g. interactivation) and some accompanying parallel processes (verbalization,
predicativization, pronominalization, particulation, etc.) will be calculated. Extremely important is the study of
character of the interaction of vocabulary, word formation, and morphological and syntax factors in the process of the
categorical transformation of the linguistic units.
2. Methods
The methods of the oppositional analysis and the indexation of the various facts of syncretism in the system of the part-
of-speech and inter part-of-speech syntactic-semantic classes stated and tested in a series of monographs by V.V.
Shigurov on transpositional grammar of the Russian language. Stages (1) of substantivization, adjectivization,
adverbialization, conjuctionalization of the participial negative forms of the verb have been researched (Shigurov 1993);
(2) stages of pronominalization of the language units of the different parts of the speech (Shigurov 2003); (3) stages of
interactivation of the language units of the different parts of speech and its companion transpositional processes of
verbalization, particulation, etc. (Shigurov 2009a); (4) stages of predicativization and its companion processes of
adjectivization, adverbialization, modulation etc. (Shigurov 2009b). The catalogue of the transpositional grammar of the
Russian language has been composed and the research program of the transpositional process in grammatical system of
the Russian language has been developed.
IJALEL 5(5):237-245, 2016 238
The main trends of the research in the transpositional grammar include:
 The types of the transpositional processes at the part-of-speech level (substantivization, adjectivization,
adverbialization, pronominalization, numeralization, prepositionalization, conjuctionalization, particulation,
interactivation) and semantic-syntactic part-of-speech digits (predicativization, modulation); types of the
functional and functional-semantic homonymy in the system of the grammatical word classes; the step
character of the transformation of the word forms, causing the occurrence of syncretic, i. e. peripheral and
intermediate, hybrid formations in the structure which combines differential features of different classes; the
graphical explication of the steps of transposition of the linguistic units in the form of the transition scale
developed by V.V. Babaytseva (2000); negation as the factor, providing limiting and modifying effect on the
implementation of the categorical attributes of parts of speech, as well as conditioning (or accompanying)
their transposition into other classes, due to the asymmetrization of the linguistic symbols (Shigurov, 1993);
 Types of the transpositional processes at the level of grammatical categories (type, voice, mood, time, person,
gender, number, degrees of comparison);
 Types of transpositional processes at the level of the lexical-grammatical categories (nouns: proper /
common; animate / inanimate; concrete / abstract / material / collective; adjectives: qualitative, relative,
possessive; Verbs: action class : general effective / evolutionary / stative / inchoate, etc.; transitive /
intransitive; personal / impersonal, and others);
 Types of the transposition processes at the level of the syntax (the sentence and the syntactic structures).
The dominant feature in the transpositional grammar of the Russian language is the concept of transposition
manifested one of the active mechanisms of the language: translation of the mark (word forms, words, and words’
combination) from one category (class) into the other. The essence of the transposition is to change the properties of
the linguistic unit, its combinatorics and proportions, that is the loss of its differential features, relatively speaking, the
initial part of speech and the acquisition of the differential features of other derivative parts of speech (or several –
with multi-faceted cooperation of several part-of -speech and inter part-of-speech classes – 3, 4 or more – in the
structure of one unit); see. e.g. research by Sh. Bally (1955, pp. 130-143), V.N. Migirina (1971, pp. 131-147),
V.V. Babaytseva (2000), M. Kim (1978), E.P. Kalechits (1990); M.F. Lukin (1973), A.J. Bauder (1988, p. 13-19),
V.V Shigurova (1988; 1993; 2003; 2009a; 2009b); I.V. Vysotsky (2006) and others. Many aspects of the mutual
transition and interaction of the language units in the framework of the transposition theory (translation, conversion)
have been discussed in the works of foreign researchers; See. e.g. (Bally, 1955; Tener, 1988; Kurilovich, 2000;
Marchand, 1967; and others).
Under the categorical transformation the language unit transposes (relatively speaking, it moves) from one semantic-
grammatical category into the other, explicating in the typical contexts some degree of approximation to a new part of
the speech (or inter part-of-speech category). The steps (stages and substages) of the part-of-speech transposition of
words and phrases can be set by the opposition analysis and indexation. The different types of the multi-transposition of
words and phrases from one class to another (both single and combined in one single lexical unit) generate grammatical
and lexica-grammatical homonyms as well as the syncretic speech formation which combine the properties of the
structure of the several parts of speech – two, three, four, etc., see e.g. (Shigurov, 1988; 1993; 2003; 2009a; 2009b;
Shigurov, & Shigurova, 2014; Shigurov, & Shigurova, 2015). Such hybrids allow to transfer in a saving manner
semantically capacious human thoughts and feelings in all their diversity and natural interaction (Babaytseva, 2000, p.
179, et al.).
It is important to emphasize that the term "transposition" is of purely synchronous (not diachronic!) interpretation. It is
used sometimes as an absolute synonym for the terms "transformation", "movement from one part of speech to the
other," when it comes to the process and in the result of changes of the differential features in the structure of the
language units located in the different contexts in the area of attraction (interaction) of several parts of speech.
At the same time, a certain combinatorics and proportion of the part-of-speech features in the word form, subject to one
or more types of the categorical transpositions, reflect the characteristics that emerged as a result of prolonged use in
speech (which is, of course, the scope of diachrony). However, these features are fixed on a synchronous cut in the
typical context of the transition. The concepts of "transposition", "transformation", "transition ..." are generic terms with
respect to the relevant specific concepts such as "substantivization", "adverbialization", "pronominalization",
"interactivation" explicating the specific kinds of transposition in the system of part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech
categories of the Russian language (many of these terms are fixed by Shakhmatov, 1941, pp. 454, 499, 502, etc.).
A comprehensive study of all types of the transpositional processes at the different language levels involve resolution
of both general and specific problems. Among the common challenges in the area of part-of-speech transposition it is
important to note the following:
 Determination of the nature and purpose of the mechanism of transposition of the linguistic units at the level
of the word classes and the interclass syntactic-semantic categories (predicatives, parenthesis-modal words);
 Registration of all types of the linguistic units' movement in the part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech
classes;
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 Characteristics of the emigration and immigration transposition (transformation) (term of V.N. Migirin) of
the language units in the context for each part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech category;
 Identification of the linguistic and extra-linguistic reasons of possibility / inability of the certain types of the
part-of-speech transposition of language units;
 Analysis of the transpositional processes in the field of part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech classes in the
aspect of their one-sidedness / versatility, single-stage / multistage, reversibility / irreversibility, and so on.
 The classification of the part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech classes (predicatives, parenthesis-modal
words) with respect to the theory of the transpositional (transition) processes;
 The explanation of the history of the occurrence (genesis) of part-of-speech and inter part-of-speech classes in
light of the study on transposition, and others.
The study of the specific aspects of the stepped transposition of the linguistic units in the part-of-speech and inter part-
of-speech syntactic-semantic classes based on the methodology of the opposition analysis and the indexation of
separate stages of transposition (adjectivization, pronominalization, adverbialization, predicativization, modulation,
particulation, interactivization, etc.) suggests the solution of particular objectives. The most significant objectives are
as follows:
 Identifying semantic, morphological preconditions and syntactic conditions of the categorical transformation
of the language units;
The definition of the form (fast /slow) and the features of the transition of words and phrases from one part-of-speech /
inter part-of-speech class into the other part-of-speech / inter part-of-speech class or to the several part-of-speech /
inter part-of-speech classes – when they interact within intersecting transpositional processes (changes at the level of
the lexical and general grammatical semantics, grammatical categories and paradigms, syntactic functions, lexical and
syntactic distribution, morphemic structure and word-building opportunities, phonetic characteristics, etc.).
The multi-aspect semantic-grammatical characteristic of the words and word forms, subject to the categorical
regeneration under adjectivation, adverbialization, predicativization, modulation, etc. in a varying degree (semantics,
morphology, syntax);
 The establishment of the steps (stages) of the part-of-speech transposition of the linguistic units, presented in
the standard contexts, on the one hand, the typical (nuclear) events, having all of the distinctive features of
the relevant parts of speech (A, B) and on the other hand – syncretic structures, in different proportions
combining the properties of the original and derivative parts of speech (Ab, ab, aB);
 The development of the criteria for distinguishing grammatical and lexical-grammatical homonyms and
syncretic (peripheral and hybrid) formations, synthesizing in equal proportions the signs of the initial and
final links of the part-of-speech transposition;
 The calculation of the facts of the multi-aspect interaction of more than two part-of-speech and inner part-of-
speech classes in the structure of the language units at the intersection of several transpositional processes;
identification of combinatorics and proportions of the distinctive features in sincretes at the different stages of
their simultaneous adverbialization, predicativization, interactivation, etc.
 Drawing up a complete list of the units, in one way or another affected by the transpositional processes at the
level of the part-of-speech and inner part-of-speech classes.
The most important task of the transpositional grammar is to study the mechanism and the principles of the lexical and
grammatical interaction in the structure of the language units, exposed to the transpositional processes in the part-of-
speech system and inner part-of-speech classes. "The grammatical and lexical forms are organically bound – wrote V.V.
Vinogradov – and constantly influence each other. Therefore, the study of the grammatical structure of the language
without its lexical side, without taking into account the interaction of the lexical and grammatical values is impossible"
(Vinogradov, 1986, pp. 16). Especially clearly this interaction becomes apparent under the functioning of parts of
speech, their grammatical categories and lexical-grammatical classes.
The result of this cooperation is the facts of transition and syncretism, for example, in the area of the lexical and
grammatical word classes. It is well known that one noun, depending on the lexical semantics is able to present various
lexical and grammatical classes (e.g. teaching – abstract or collective), while another in the same lexical meaning may
belong directly to the two subclasses at the same time (e.g. raspberries, strawberries – material and collective
subclasses).
Thus in some cases, vocabulary and grammar operate synchronously in the word form [brother is an animate noun
representing a living human being, human (by lexis) and have similar forms in the accusative and genitive cases, single
and plural numbers; compare: Ya vizhu brata and Net brata (grammar)]. In other cases belonging to the category can
only be defined taking into account the semantic criteria. For example, we can prove that the word studentship is an
animate noun, only taking into account its semantics (the 'totality of living creatures, the students'), and grammatically it
is not possible to prove: an abstract noun of the neuter gender has no plural form, where you could find the
paradigmatic figure of an animate object.
Finally, there are some cases where the same noun, being a syncretic noun, can be incorporated directly into two lexical
and grammatical categories: with the view of the word semantics – to one category, and with the view of its grammar –
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to another category [jump: abstract (lexis: 'process') + specific (grammar: jumping, two jumps, etc.)].
Of the fundamental importance is the demarcation of two types of transposition of the linguistic units in the part-of-
speech and inter part-of-speech classes – functional-semantic (or semantic, Sh. Bally's terminology) and functional
types. Functional-semantic transposition, being the fact of grammar and vocabulary, includes the change both in the
grammatical features and lexical-semantic features of the words and word forms being exposed to a categorical (part-of-
speech) transformation. As a result the linguistic units become categorically "bifurcate" and "spin-off" from them, these
word forms (twins) turn into a new class; compare: Podkhodiashchiy k stantsii poezd zamedlil khod (imperfect
participle from the verb to approach) -> On iskal podkhodyashchiy moment, chtoby soobshchit' etu novost' (participle
pronoun) (see [Shigurov, 1993, 2003]). The functional transposition, in contrast, has no relation to the word formation,
presenting a purely grammatical process associated with the part-of-speech (categorical) attributes of the word forms.
The nature of the functional transposition of the linguistic signs is exceptionally complex. Without going into the
history of the issue, we note that within its boundaries the two types can be distinguished: 1) the transition of the
language units from the different parts of speech into particular inter part-of-speech semantic-syntactic categories of
words – predicatives and modal-parenthesis words (Brief Russian grammar, 1989, pp. 22-23, 302, etc.), and 2) a purely
grammatical transition of words and phrases from one part of speech into the other (substantivization, adjectivization,
adverbialization, etc.), not violating the identity of the original lexeme.
The first type of the functional (grammatical) word forms transposition in the part-of-speech system is known in the
Russian grammar as "predicativization" and "modulation". We understand regard predicativization as the use of the
word forms included in the classes of the nouns, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, verbs in the form of short passive
participles (go, sad, cold, nothing, ventilated, forbidden), in a particular function of the principal term (predicate) of the
impersonal construction for transfer of semantics of the state and / or its evaluation. Compare the following functional
homonyms:
(1) (a) Delo plokho (short adjective);
(b) On plokho ponimaet po-russki (adverb);
(c) Yemu plokho (short adjective / adverb in a predicative function);
(2) (a) Idyot okhota na volkov (noun);
(b) Okhota otdokhnut' (noun in a predicate function).
The modulation process presents the usage of the word forms, related to the class of nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs
(right, fact, it is obvious, it seems, most importantly, to be seen, of course, they say, look, you know, and so on.) in a
special parenthetical function for the expression of the subjective-modal semantics, that is the relationship of the speech
subject to what he /she reports. The viewpoint of the modus subject manifests the different aspects of the characteristics
of the statements: (1) confidence / lack of confidence in the reality of the transmitted events (positively, for sure, of
course, obviously, probably, it seems, etc.); (2) the emotional attitude to the reported (luckily, unfortunately, etc.); (3)
fixation of the progress of the presented ideas (first, therefore, that means, etc.); (4) a method of formation of thoughts
(in short, short, etc.); (5) the call to the other party in order to draw his/her attention to anything (you see, you know,
can you imagine, I'm sorry, let's say, for example, supposably, etc. (6) a reference to the source of information (in my
opinion, to be heard, etc.) (Vinogradov, 1986, pp. 603-607). Compare the following functional homonyms:
(3) (a) Privedennoye nastroyeniye kazhetsya vo mnogom iskusstvennym;
(b) Pogoda, kazhetsya, okonchatel'no isportilas';
(4) (a) Eto pokhozhe na pravdu.
(b) Pokhozhe, bez postoronney pomoshchy vam ne oboytis';
(5) (a) Izdaniye knigi vpolne vozmozhno;
(b) Vozmozhno, kniga budet skoro izdana;
(6) (a) Ukazanniy fakt zasluzhivaet vnimaniya;
(b) On ne pridyot, fakt.
Note also the loss (or neutralization) of the semantic and grammatical properties of the adjective in the adjective word
form seen in the contexts of predicativization and modulation: 1. Otsyuda plokho vidno rechku (adjective word form as
the function of the estimated modal predicative) and 2. Vidno, my oshchiblis' (adjective word form as the function of
the estimated modal component).
Small groups of lexical items not having the homonymous correspondences among the significant and ancillary parts of
speech in the modern Russian language, are functionally approaching the predicatives and input modal words arisen as
the result of predicativization and modulation words and word forms of different parts of speech. For example, such
impersonal-predicative form like it is necessary, it is possible, must not, sorry, shame, ashamed, ticklish, sickening,
unbearable, could not stand, unaware and input modal words like so, therefore, for example, firstly, secondly, thirdly, it
seems, however, that sometimes jokingly referred to by the linguists as part-of-speech "bums" or "rootless" words.
See, for example, usage of these "homeless" words in parenthesis and modal contexts:
(7) Po-vidimomu, skoro budet dozhd';
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(8) Navernoye, pora sobirat'sya v dorogu.
The second type of functional transposition in the part-of-speech system of the Russian language is represented by
numerous cases of categorical grammatical transformation of the word forms within the framework of adjectivization,
adverbialization, substantivization, pronominalization, etc. These are basically two processes: 1) the regular
grammatical generation of one part of speech within the boundaries of the corresponding lexical items of the other part
of speech and 2) an occasional (speech) part-of-speech transposition of word forms. An example of a typical generation
of a new part of speech within the original lexical items can be, for example, the facts of the two-stage functional
transposition of the verb into an adjective and an adverb, that can explain the orientation of participles and gerunds to
the "part-of-speech emancipation" (an expression of Rudelev, 1996, pp. 85-86).
As a result of the first stage of the grammatical transposition of the verb into the adjective different morphological types
of participles can be formed (chitat' --> chitaushchiy, chitavshiy, chitaemiy, chitanniy, chitayushchiysya, chitavshiysya),
as a result of the second stage the functional participial adjectives can be formed (ranenniy v boyu soldat --> raneniy
soldat; krashenniy malyarom zabor --> krasheniy zabor; plavayushchiye vdaleke utki --> plavayushchiye tanki;
shagayushchiy na platsu soldat --> shagayushchiy ekskavator; slova, izmenyaemiye po kategoriyam padezha, roda i
chisla --> izmenyaemiye slova, etc. (Bulanin, 1986, pp. 36-38; Shigurov, 1993, pp. 246-249, 303-305). The adverbial
verb transposition also includes two stages: firstly, it is the formation of adverbial participles (chitat' --> chitaya,
prosmotret' --> prosmotrev) and secondly, the formation of functional adverbs that are formed of adverbial participles:
On govoril, izredka ulybayas' --> On govoril ulybayas', i.e. s ulybkoy; see also: idti spotykayas', shatayas'; govorit'
zaikayas'; sidet' sgorbivshis', and some other examples).
It is important to emphasize that the adjectival and adverbial verb transposition, accompanied by certain grammatical
and semantic shifts, does not lead to violation of the identity of the original lexical item. This means, for example, that
in such cases as raneniy soldat (solyonaya ryba, zhareniy kartofel', kvashenaya kapusta, krasheniye steny) and
govorit' ulybayas' (idti spotykayas') we are dealing with the participial adjective raneniy and the adverb ulybayas',
formed out of the adverbial participle, functioning under the relevant verbal lexical items ranit' and ulybat'sa. This is a
purely grammatical process without affecting the sphere of word formation. Lexicalization of grammatical forms does
not occur in such cases. In view of the above, the practice of the orthographic differentiation of imperfective participles
and functional participial adjectives such as potatoes zharenniy na sale kartofel' - zhareniy kartofel', kipyachennaya v
chaynike voda - kipyachenaya voda), can be hardly considered as successful and linguistically-justified, the more
especially as such differentiation still cannot be implemented; for example, marinovanniye khozyaykoy griby (passive
participle) – marinovanniye griby (participial functional adjective).
The situation gets more complicated by the fact that perfective passive participles and functional adjectives appeared on
their base, do not have such orthographic difference; for example, izbalovannaya mater'yu doch (passive participle) –
izbalovanaya doch (participial adjective).
For comparison, the functional-semantic transposition of verbal word forms into an adjective and an adverb (more
specifically, adjectivization of participles and adverbialization of adverbial participles) is accompanied by a loss of not
only grammatical features, but also lexical meaning of the verb. For example: nachitanniye lektsii --> nachitanniye
lyudi; On govoril dolgo, ne toropyas' obobshchat' --> On govoril ne toropyas'; see also: otvechat' nekhotya; zvonit'
nemedlya; zrya otkazat'sya), etc.
The contexts illustrating the facts of functional and functional-semantic transposition of participles into adjectives, are
also demonstrative: 1) mytyye khozyaykoy frukty (participle) --> mytyye frukty (participial adjectives denoting a new,
secondary quality chistyye and functioning within the initial verbal lexical item myt' as its special adjectival type of use)
and 2) sobranniy masterom priyomnik (participle) -> sobranniy chelovek (participial adjective, which goes beyond the
scope of the original semantic verb sobrat' and used as a separate lexical item). In the first case we are dealing only with
the fact of grammar [compare grammatical homonyms mytyye (participle) – mytyye (adjective)], while in the second
case – we are dealing with the fact of grammar and vocabulary [compare grammatical and lexical homonyms:
sobranniy (participle) – sobranniy (adjective)]. In case of functional adjectivization participles lose their grammatical
verbal characteristics, but retain the identity with the original lexical item, while in case of functional-semantic
adjectivization they lose both grammatical verbal properties and their lexical semantics. Compare also initial and final
links of functional-semantic transposition of the verbal imperative into the form-generating particle: Let students come
in the class by turn (Puskay po ocheredi uchenikov v klass --> Puskay reshayut, ne meshayte im.
We can observe the facts of functional and functional-semantic transposition in case of impersonal-predicative
transposition of linguistic units of different parts of speech. Thus, in summary predicativizated short passive participles
ending in -no, -to, the degree of semantic deviation from the verbal lexical items can be different – the degree can be
lesser (in case of predictivization and/or adjectivization; for example: Uzhe poslano v pogonyu; Ob etom napisano v
gazete "Komsomol'skaya pravda"); V komnate ubrano i provetreno; or greater [in case of functional-semantic
predicativization; Im razresheno ostat'sya (≈ ‘can’); V etom meste kurit' zapreshcheno (≈ ‘You cannot smoke here’);
Nam prishlos' atakovat' (≈ We were 'forced' to attack)]. The semantic shift in predicativizated linguistic units
representing different parts of speech (it's time to/for (pora, vremya, dosug), early (rano), late (pozdno), dare you...?
(slabo), stand at ease (vol'no); ordered (veleno), etc.) is connected with the formation of a modal component in their
semantic structure.
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Homonymous collision of word forms due to the predicativization of nouns and short adjectives / adverbs ending in -o,
can be illustrated by typical contexts:
A. Grammatical homonyms: Len', son i pokoy - vsyo eto sposobstvuyet entropii, raspadu, nashemu perekhodu v pyl'.
(Dudincev V. White clothes) (this noun means 'Lack of desire to do anything') --> Yey i s mesta-to len' podnyat'sya
(Tokareva V. Love and travel) (this substantival predicate means 'reluctance'); I v samom dele, eto bylo krasivo i
vpechatlyaushche (Voinovich V. Monumental propaganda) (short adjective); Ekspozitsiya byla postroena logichno i
krasivo (Dovlatov S., Natural reserve) (adverb) --> A zdes' bylo krasivo... - zapushchennost' byla k litsu etomu mestu
(Ulitskaja L., Travel to the seventh part of the world) (an estimated predicate on the basis of a short adjective and
adverb).
B. Lexical and grammatical homonyms: A potom - izvestnoye delo: sadilis', i kazhdiy po-svoyemu ubival svoy dosug...
(Yerofeyev М., Moscow-Petushki) (the noun means 'spare time') --> Dosug mne razbirat' viny tvoi, shchenok (Krylov
I.A.) (this substantivisated predicate means "I cannot as I have no time, and does not want to do that); ... Zdes', v etikh
starykh, iznoshennykh izbakh, kak v derevne, lozhat'sya rano (Rasputin V.G.. A new profession) (adverb) --> Rano
eshchyo emu poruchat' takiye dela: ne spravitsya (adverbial predicate meaning "He must not deal with such deeds as he
is not ready for that").
Purely functional transposition of the verb into a noun is a single-stage one, being associated with the formation of the
grammatical form of the infinitive: Chitat' lyozha vredno. However, further movement of the verbal word towards the
noun becomes functional-semantic in nature and results in the formation of substantivates like russkaya pech' (<--
pech' bliny); vsya znat' goroda (<-- khorosho znat' predmet razgovora), etc.
Occasional transition of a word form from one part of speech to another as a kind of functional transposition is a very
common phenomenon in the Russian language. It is found in virtually all types of part-of-speech transformation and,
being designed for a particular case, is always temporary, transient in nature, symbolizing one or another stage of
transition of a word form from one class to another. See, for example, speech adverbialization of case and prepositional-
case forms of nouns (9-10) and speech substantivization of word forms of different parts of speech (11-12):
(9) Zver' ranen streloy.
--> Molniya streloy pronzila nebo;
(10) On s bol'shym trepetom ozhidal yeyo poyavleniya
--> On s trepetom ozhidal yeyo poyavleniya
(11) Vsyakoye beloye markoye, markoye khot' i neudobno, no krasivo;
(12) Resheniye neobkhodimo prinimat' zavtra.
--> Nashe zavtra neopredelenno.
Cases of functional substantivization of verbal symbols (metasubstantivization) can be rather demonstrative:
(13) Rassmotreli vse "za" i "protiv".
It should be noted that the contextual transposition of word forms of this type into an unusual position of a subject and
complement can only be syntactical in nature and thus it limits their transformation. Therefore there can be doubts about
the fair use of the term "substantivization" to describe these facts (Bauder, 1988, p. 15).
The facts of usual adverbialization of adverbial participles and short neuter singular adjectives represent a special case
of functional transposition of word forms.
(14) Khudozhnik risuyet, stoya na podmostkakh
--> Khudozhnik risuyet stoya;
(15) Litso yego bylo veselo --> On veselo ulybalsya.
In the modern literature on word-formation the adverbs like veselo are often interpreted as a syntactical adjective
derivatives preserving lexical meaning of the original words (such cases as begat' --> beg, smeliy --> smelost', kamen' -
-> kamenniy), as indicated in the works of Kurilovich E. (1962, 57-70)
As it has been said before, transposition processes of the mentioned type have a stepped character, generating in the
speech a mass of syncretic phenomena combining the features of initial and derivative part of speech (or inter-part-of-
speech type) in different proportions. The study of these types of syncretism is one of the greatest challenges of modern
linguistics. As Babaytseva V.V. pointed out, "typical speech facts ("extreme cases", in the words of Schebra L.) easily
fit into the columns ("cells") of different classifications, and, as a rule, do not raise questions. Another thing is a speech
material, that does not fit into the strict framework of even the most detailed classifications. In the living language and
speech prevail the facts that do not have a complete set of distinctive features of any single grammatical category
(Babaytseva, 2000, pp. 3-4). "The facts of language, – wrote Gak V.G. – form some kind of continuum – a chain of
gradual transitions. The last units in the chain are clearly different from each other, but they are related by the area of
gradual transitions where it is impossible to draw distinctive lines entirely and permanently" (Gak, 1997, p. 63). The
language system appears to be "in a closed chain, where the boundary units linked to each other partly share common
elements included in one unit upon some features, and in another, neighboring unit upon different features" (Yartseva,
1968, p. 14).
IJALEL 5(5):237-245, 2016 243
Generating syncretism of language units in speech may be connected, in particular, with predicativization of words and
word forms, leading to "the complex grammatical interweaving" of properties and functions of different parts of speech
in their structure – nouns, adjectives, numbers, pronouns, verbs and adverbs. The forms of manifestation of this
interaction are varied. Thus, in case of predicativization the adjectival forms (zhalko, bol'no, etc.) appear are "in the
zone of interests" (attraction) of verbs and adverbs, acquiring, on the one hand, verbal characteristics (semantics of the
state, the function of the predicate, impersonality, compatibility with an infinitive, direct transition; for example: zhalko
yego, bol'no glotat'), and on the other hand – some adverbial features [invariability, the suffix -o, the meaning of the
action attribute (the word form like veselo on the hybridity stage of the predicativization scale, presented in a two-part
formation with a prepositional infinitive-subject: Katat'sya s gorki - veselo – semi-adjective/semi-adverb/semi-
predicate]).
Predicative transposition of an adjectival word form is due to its "inclusion" in two simultaneous transposition
processes at the part-of-speech level – verbalization adverbalization. The different degree of convergence of a linguistic
unit with verbs and adverbs can be established using the oppositional method and indexation of certain degrees and the
limit of its predicativization (Shigurov, 2009a; 2009b).
The situation is complicated by the fact that a predicativizated adjectival word form often appears in the zone of
attraction of not only adjectives, verbs and adverbs, but other classes of words such as pronouns with the semantics of
indefinite plurality (like neskol'ko and imperative-emotive interjections.
Compare different types of transposition of a word form dostatochno:
(16) Etikh knig dostatochno (i.e. so much as necessary, the number corresponds to a certain situational norm:
adverbialization and pronominalization – pronoun-numeral type of using an adverbialized adjectival word
form);
(17) Inogda dostatochno vzglyanut' na cheloveka, chtoby ponyat', kto on [rapprochement with the verbs and
adverbs in the framework of predicativization (quantitative assessment of the action in the infinitive), as well as
with indefinite pronouns in case of pronominalization]. In the modern academic dictionaries (Dictionary of the
Russian language in 1981, Vol. 1: 436), using a word form dostatochno within the meaning of the word form
"stoit tol'ko (sdelat' chto-libo)") is associated with an infinitive and conjunction chtoby. It is thought that the
scope of its using is somewhat broader. It should be borne in mind that, instead of the infinitive, here we can
use a verbal noun; for example: Inogda dostatochno odnogo vzglyada na..., chtoby ponyat'. The conjuction
chtoby may be absent, for example, in the conjuctionless construction: Inogda dostatochno vzglyanut' na ... i
situatsiya stanovitsya yasnoy. Furthermore, there is not always an indication to the action target in the sentence,
although this information can be extracted from the broader context or presented at the presupposition level:
Ikh ne nado zapugivat', dostatochno perekryt' im dostup k informatsii (in case of possible implication of the
meaning "not to do any harm").
(18) Dostatochno plakat', skol'ko mozhno! Perestan'te! [interjectivization (emotional appeal to stop the
action), verbalization, predicativization, pronominalization].
Word-forms ne dostatochno, malo are subject to two types of transposition with a combination with the
adjacent postpositional infinitive:
(19) Malo ponyat', nado deystvovat' (predicativization + pronominalization).
Functioning of the word form Gor'ko! should be noted (this is a phrase that guests outcry at the wedding table, urging
newlyweds to kiss and thus, upon the tradition, to remove the feeling of bitterness in the mouth after drinking wine,
champagne, etc.) in the syncretism context of interjectivization, verbalization and predicativization.
"Pure" (20) and "combined" (21) types of predicativization can be presented by word forms kholodno, zharko, bol'no,
plokho, etc.
(20) Yemu kholodno (predicative with semantics of the physical condition of the subject; predicativization);
(21) Mne kholodno! Ty ne slyshysh'?! (the phrase accompanied by an imperative intonation cam imply the
meaning "Zakroy dver', okno!"); the context of the combined predicativization, interjectivization and
verbalization).
Similarly:
(22) V komnate zharko (predicativization);
(23) Mne zharko! (At the presupposition level it can mean: "Open the window for me to feel better", this is the
context of the combined predicativization, interjectivization and verbalization).
As for part-of-speech context, the following inscription is rather interesting: Opasno: Tigry! [The context of combined
predicativization (negative assessment of the situation with the implication of the emotional state of the subject),
verbalization (functional convergence with the imperative verb, compare: Osteregaytes'! Bud'te ostorozhny!,
interjectivization (functional convergence with the imperative-emotive interjection; compare: Tss! Karaul!).
It is important to emphasize that in the contexts of this type a linguistic unit is located at the intersection of several
transposition process at the part-of-speech level and semantic-syntactic inter-part-of-speech categories (predicatives),
i.e. in the "zone of interests" of a number of words classes and categories. Moreover, the degree of its approximation to
them is different. Thus, in typical contexts like: Yemu dostatochno bylo nameknut', chtoby vopros byl reshyon,
adjectival/adverbial word form dostatochno within the predicativization reached the periphery of predicates bearing
infinite-quantitative assessment of the action (in the infinitive), and at the same time we can say that within the
pronominalization this word form took one step toward pronouns-numerals and pronouns-adverbs having infinite-
IJALEL 5(5):237-245, 2016 244
quantitative meaning; compare: Bylo provedeno neskol'ko opytov; Sleduyet provesti stol'ko opytov, skol'ko nuzhno dlya
ob'ektivatsii resul'tatov; Nuzhno stol'ko rabotat', skol'ko trebuetsya).
The multi-dimensional analysis of the facts of syncretism allows to objectify the results of the study. As pointed out by
Kuznetsova A.I., "the same phenomenon from different points of view can be described as both central and peripheral"
(Kuznetsova, 1985: 16). It should be added that in some cases it is possible to indentify the same fact as a hybrid fact,
i.e. synthesizing in its structure the signs of the other interacting word classes in equal proportion. Practically, this
means that the same speech fact can be qualified from three perspectives: a) as a central (nuclear) phenomenon; b) as a
peripheral phenomenon; c) as a hybrid phenomenon. Everything depends on the coordinate system in which we assess
this speech fact. It can be illustrated by the mentioned word form dostatochno. As for its predicativization, we can
qualify it as a functional peripheral predicate that has not lost its semantic link with the original generating lexical item
– an adjective in a short form (Resheniye dostatochno dlya ...) or an adverb (dostatochno smeloye zayavleniye), but if
we are interested in the degree of pronominalization of this word form in the above-mentioned context of transition,
thus, it is possible to ascertain its rapprochement with many words of different parts of speech such as mnogo, malo,
navalom, tucha, polno, zavalis', khvatit, that takes the first step toward an pronouns meaning indefinite variety
(Compare: Yagod navalom, polno, zavalis' (Shigurov, 2003).
It is obvious that the degree of convergence of predicativated words and phrases with verbs, adverbs, adjectives, nouns
and pronouns in different conditions of the context is not the same, as indicated by the different stages of their
predicativization, pronominalization, etc., requiring quantitative measurement by the formula of part-of-speech
compliance (indexation).
The proposed approach to the material can be illustrated by a model for the description of transitional, syncretic forms,
manifesting combined types of part-of-speech transposition of linguistic units in the adverbial system. Observations
show that an adverbial word form dostatochno, for example, in the context of transition (Dovol'no! Skol'ko mozhno
rasstraivat'sya!) is exposed to three types of transposition – interjectivation, verbalization and pronominalization.
Indexation of this speech fact indicates that this is a syncretic formation (relatively – imperative-emotive interjection)
Dovol'no, synthesizing properties of the following classes of words in different proportions: adverbs – 17%;
interjections – 75%; verbs – 7%; pronouns-numerals – 15%.
Changes in the set and proportion of distinctive features of these parts of speech in the structure of the adverbial word
form, undergoing interjectivation, verbalization and pronominalization, occurs in the "movement" of the word form on
the scale of transition, which is reflected in the appropriate context: Stage N(arech) (core of the adverb: Eto dovol'no
smeloye zayavleniye, pronouns-numerals – 0%) --> Stage n(arech) m(mezhd) / M(ezhd) (a transition zone between the
hybrid adverbial-interjectival formations and the core of interjections – emotive words: Dovol'no rasstraivat'sya!;
adverbs – 15%; interjections – 63%, verbs – 9%; pronouns-numerals – 23%) --> Stage n(arech) M(ezhd) / М(ezhd) (a
transition zone between the peripheral, imperative and nuclear emotive interjections: Dovol'no! Skol'ko mozhno
rasstraivat'sya!; adverbs – 17%; interjections – 75%, verbs – 7%; pronouns-numerals – 15%) (you can find details on
the application of the indexation method in the study of different types of interjectional transposition of word forms in
[Shigurov, 2009a]).
The comparative analysis of the data shows that in the general dynamics of the semantic-grammatical development of
the word form dovol'no, engaged in three transposition process, there is a regular decrease in a number of adverbial
features in its structure (from 100% to 15-17%) and an increase in a number of interjectival features (from 0 to 75%). A
quantitative indicator of adverbial features of the imperative-emotive interjection Dovol'no is a bit higher (17%) than
this indicator of the interjectival phrase Dovol'no razgovorov! (15%), due to the syntactic conditions of their use – in
combination with dependent words [in case of expanding the valence of a word form on the stage n(arech) м(ezhd) /
М(ezhd)] or in a single syntactically isolated position [on the stage n(arech) М(ezhd) / М(ezhd)]. An influence of
pronouns-numerals on the interjectival phrase can be seen in the contexts corresponding to the steps n(arech) m(ezhd) /
М(ezhd) and n(arech) M(ezhd) / М(ezhd) of the transition scale. However, as an interjectivated word form to the
center of interjections as a part of speech, this influence decreases a little (from 23% to 15%). A similar trend can be
observed in the verbalization of the interjectival phrase: the degree of the verbal influence on it decreases from the stage
n(arech) m(ezhd) / М(ezhd) (9%) to the stage n(arech) М(ezhd) / М(ezhd) (7%) of the transition scale.
4. Conclusion
Thus, the facts of the interaction of word classes and intra-class semantic-syntactic categories in the structure of
language units, subject to one or more categorical transformations, show that the further development of the theory of
functional grammar and the field approach, according to some researchers, in particular, Pavlov V.M., should be
associated with the study of the facts of transposition and syncretism in the part-of-speech system (Pavlov, 2001, p. 1).
The effectiveness of such studies is provided by the systemic use of the method of the oppositional analysis (with the
graphic explication of its results on the intersecting scales of intra-category transposition of language units) and
mathematical methods of processing of the empirical material – indexation of different degrees of compliance of the
syncrete with initial and final links of transposition. It should also be taken into account that the processes of part-of-
speech transposition and word formation are closely interact with each other and often intersect in the structure of
language units at different stages of their categorical degeneration (Zernov, 1986, pp. 10-11).
IJALEL 5(5):237-245, 2016 245
Acknowledgements
The work has been performed as part of the project "Complex research of modulation as a type of stepwise
transposition of linguistic units into the semantic-syntactic category of parenthesis-modal words" implemented with the
financial support of the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (grant number 15-04-00039a).
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The Problem of Gender and Sensitive Use of the Language in

Kazakhstan: The Case of German
Gulnar Kulmukhambetovna Ismagulova (Corresponding author)
Kostanay State Pedagogical Institute, Kostanay, Kazakhstan
Viktoriya Valerievna Danilova

Kenzhigul Kunusbaevna Segizbaeva

Bibikul Mazanovna Utegenova

Yuliya Borisovna Grigorova


Abstract
In this article the problem of language asymmetry and possibility of the gender and sensitive use of the Kazakh and
Russian languages in the territory of Kazakhstan is discussed. One of the aspects of gender equality in society is also the
language policy. Authors also suggest discussing this subject, involving experience of feministic linguistics of other
countries, and first of all, of Germany. Gender and sensitive use of the language in oral and written communication is
especially urgent for Kazakhstan as culturally determined features of the language policy in this cultural space have a
gap due to the low level of special attention paid to gender democracy in the language. But at the same time, it creates a
vast platform for further researches in this direction. Both language and political activity are determined by the fact that
these intentions are part of the general social transformations in our society. An integrated approach to the analysis of
gender and sensitive use of the language in Kazakhstan, systematization of theoretical knowledge demands, studying
foreign experience in gender reform of the language and it is impossible to be implemented without linguistic data from
other languages. Their critical judgment will allow avoiding problems connected with implementation of this policy.
Keywords: language asymmetry, gender, gender equality, feminization, neutralization
1. Introduction
Language and thinking are closely interconnected. Language forms and expressions influence our representations.
Language reflects social values and fixes symmetry and asymmetry in its use, equality or an inequality of the language
use. Language equality on a gender base is today among other things of the main priority in the process of establishing
equality in society due to changes in the language that promote transformations in society. “Also Sprache ändert sich,
weil wir unsere Sprache ändern, wenn sie unseren Bedürfnissen nicht mehr entspricht. Wir können sie auch bewusst
ändern und wir müssen sie ändern“ (Trömmel-Plötz, 1992). So, the principle of gender equality is an inevitable
condition of modern society, and the gender and correct formulation has to be relevant to requirements of time and
society including the basic principles of written and oral communication in all languages.
In the late sixties of the 20th century there was a direction in linguistics (mainly in the USA, Australia and Germany)
called ‘the feministic criticism of the language’ or ‘feministic linguistics’. Within feminist movement of the seventieths
and eighties of the 20th century the question of social value of a gender of the personality was put forward. Furthermore,
a problem of a change in the language structure as the purpose of usage has achieved certain results in feministic
linguistics. Debate and requirements of feminist linguists concerning making women “visible and heard” (transparent)
in the language, especially in public and its public use, gained results (e.g. Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter oder Team;
Lehrer und Lehrerin oder Lehrkraft; Leserinnen und Leser). The list of identifications concerning a female gender is
IJALEL 5(5):246-251, 2016 247
constantly replenished. For example, since 2005 with the election of Angela Merkel one more identification as
Kanzlerin has appeared.
Professors Senta Trömmel-Plötz and Luise F. Pusch were the pioneers of feministic linguistics in Germany who
transformed the public consciousness so that initially there are two genders and a masculine one can't be common for
both genders. Their long-term debate about political and social ability of women helped the process of representation of
women within all spheres of life. (Pusch, 1984; Trömel-Plötz, 1988). One of the existing postulates tells about “doing
gender” as a bilateral process. "Produktion und Rezeption sind danach interagierende Komponenten, die letztlich nur
gemeinsam "erfolgreiches" doing gender gewährleisten (Gottburgsen, 2000).
Numerous examples from various areas of social and political life are the proof of that the modern languages have been
strongly changed. Due to great efforts by the USA (Guidelines for Equal Treatment of the Sexes in Social Studies
Textbooks, 1972), Canada, Great Britain, Australia issued recommendations on elimination of the sexual use of the
language in the professional environment, public institutions. In Germany (1974 and 1975), France and Austria,
national and regional recommendations on linguistically equal use of gender supported by various legislative authorities
and the international agreements were issued. After foundation of the Women's communicative center in Wiesbaden
(Wiesbadener Frauenkommunikationszentrums) in 1990 issues of the gender and specific use of language were strictly
brought up, e.g. it was connected with problems of legal and administrative language, participation of men and women
in political discourse (Margot Brunner, 1992, I. Auflage, 1992). Among active supporters were the following: the
president of German Bundestag - Prof. Dr. R. Süssmuth, Stadträtin E. Mikfeld, linguist, Prof. Dr. L F. Pusch, the head
of editorial board of Duden - Prof. Dr. G. Drosdowski who were engaged in the process of changes in the language use.
Gender linguistics is a rather young branch of linguistics not only in Kazakhstan, but also in the former Soviet Union. It
was found in the ninetieth of the 20th century. Modern researches illustrate the relevance and urgency of the topic of
linguistically equal gender use (Horvath, L.K., Merkel, E.F., Maass, A. and Sczesny, S.,2016) including possible ways
of avoiding linguistic female stereotyping and discrimination (Sczesny S, Formanowicz M., Moser, F., 2016), etc.
2. Methodology
The essential contribution to the development of gender linguistics was made by Dr. A. Kirilina (Kirilina, 1997, 1998,
2000), I.I. Chaleeva, O. Voronina (Voronina, 2001), etc.
The question of the need of Gender Mainstreaming for language policy in the former Soviet Union has been thoroughly
studiedby Tolstokorova A.V. in the article “Gender and sensitive reform of language as an element of global social
policy: experience of the international women's movement” consecrates relevance of a problem of linguistic gender
equality in the former Soviet Union and need of development of gender approach to language policy aimed at dealing
with language sexism. “In the former Soviet Union special attention was not paid to linguistic aspect of gender equality,
and discussion of a problem in scientific and popular publications still has sporadic character” (Tolstokorova, 2005).
In world practice woman is viewed as the mistress of the fate with active living position who can not only assert the
rights in society, but also offer new approaches to the solution of urgent problems. Socio-political changes in society
gradually influence gender way and the system of language. The gender marked lexicon includes the following words in
the Russian language, for example: “the business lady”, “the businesswoman”, “the iron lady”, “all people are sisters” (
analogous to the journal as an antipode to the statement that “all people are brothers”). The word "feminist" ceased to
be perceived as something far, introduced from the West and hostile to national identity. In the Kazakh language
analogy for above mentioned phrases are called nominations of the lexeme “the isker aiel”, formed by “isker”/ “the
businessman” and “aiel”/ “woman”. Other identifications in language background have not been observed at the
moment.
The fact of increase of women in political arena of Kazakhstan does not influence language background though the
absence of grammatical category of gender in the Kazakh language due to visual absence of gender stratification in the
Kazakh language. The use of borrowed words from Russian or English throughout the Russian language (“the
minister”, “the deputy”) allows concluding that “the woman” has insufficient representation in the language background
of the world of the Kazakh people, its "inclusion" into masculine gender.
Alongside with it, special names of professions related only to a female language has appeared: “medbibi” or
“medbike”/ “nurse”. Having carried out the component analysis, we came to a conclusion that the male in this case is
not presented by a separate lexical unit (“med/medicine”; “bike (sh) means “young, unmarried woman” in the Kazakh
language where initial meaning was “the daughter/girl out of a notable family”, nowadays this word is used as a form
of the address to a young girl; in this case equivalent to the word "sister" or "worker") and it cannot be “included” in
female gender as the second component is gender marked. The word “the head nurse” / “aga medbibi” is of high
interest. The word “aga” is polysemantic in the Kazakh language. This word refers to the identification of “the elder
brother”, the address to the one who is elder or the one who is dear, including the one who is senior on a military rank,
for example, “aga - lieutenant / “the senior lieutenant”. Therefore, the use of this component as identification of
professional hierarchy is evident, though from above described it is concluded that the profession of the nurse is already
gender marked and does not include a male gender.
3. Linguistic situation in Kazakhstan
The gender policy is a component of social policy of any democratic state. And the "female" policy is rather young
concept of Kazakhstan and it has been used since 1994 till the moment of foundation of feministic league of
IJALEL 5(5):246-251, 2016 248
Kazakhstan. History of development of female policy in world cultures (USA, Canada, Australia) has proved that
language policy, namely gender aspect, plays an important role in female policy.
At the moment national committee on issues on women and family, gender population policy under the leadership of
the President of Kazakhstan coordinates work on implementation of gender policy in Kazakhstan. Its main objective is
realization of a state policy concerning issues on family and equality of women and men in the context of strategy of
development of Kazakhstan up to 2030, strategy of gender equality in Kazakhstan for 2006-2016 (the decree of the
President of Kazakhstan dated November 29, 2005) and international treaties concerning family and gender equality.
But, achievement of gender equality requires observance and formal legal equality in all spheres of life, one of which is,
in our opinion, the gender and sensitive use of language.
However, the analysis of the catalog of educational resources of feministic league of Kazakhstan reflects the scope of
researches in the field in the region concerning both languages (Kazakh and Russian). The majority of them are directed
to assessment of the situation of women in Kazakhstan, development tendencies, a problem of unequal distribution of
material and symbolical resources. For example, the works of Ashibaeva А.D. “Woman and social progress”
(Ashibaeva, 1989); Balgosina R.O. “Female emensipation in Kazakhstan: historical experience and political period
1917-1941” (Balgoshina, 2001); Sarsembaeva R.B. “Market transformation of the Kazakhstani society: experience of
the gender analysis” (Sarsembaeva, 2004); “Gender and political parties, instutute for the development of Kazakhstan”
(2004); Concept of gender policy and purpose of century in Kazakhstan; The national commission on issues on family
and women under the leadership of the President of Kazakhstan (2004), etc.
Concerning scientific researches on the topic of linguistic equality of genders we can name some works as Mamaeva
G.B. “Features of the use of lexicon by women and men” (Mamaeva, 2003), G. Ismagulova “Linguocultural aspect of
the gender relations: comparison of the German, Kazakh and Russian languages” (Ismagulova, 2005). Within studying
of a problem G. Ismagulova brings up questions of linguocultural specifics of the gender relations in the Kazakh,
Russian and German languages, representations of the gender relations in language background of the world,
comparative analysis of paroemias of a gender perspectives in the specified languages.
Before discussing a question of the gender and legal use of the language in Kazakhstan, we would like to concern
briefly the general language situation in Kazakhstan. With more than 120 nationalities, Kazakhstan is considered a
polycultural society with 2 languages dominating in communication. Kazakh under the Constitution of RK in 1991 met
the status of a state language. Russian in the territory of Kazakhstan is considered a language of international
communication alongside with Kazakh. From here, written and oral communication is carried out under the law in 2
languages as it has been stated above in this article.
Gender and sensitive use of language in everyday spoken or written communication is especially relevant for
Kazakhstan as culturally determined features of language policy in this cultural space have a gap due to the fact that
special attention was not paid to gender democracy in the language. But at the same time, it creates an interesting
platform for further researches in this direction. Language and political activity is determined by the fact that these
aspirations are part of the general social transformations in our society.
Integrated approach to the analysis of gender and sensitive use of the language in Kazakhstan, systematization of
theoretical knowledge demands studying foreign experience concerning gender reform of language and it is impossible
without attraction of materials from other languages. Their critical judgment will allow avoiding possible problems
First of all, undertaking such researches, it would be desirable to use the tendencies of language transformations in
Germany. The known social and linguistic factors connected with gender policy include:
- feminization (language transparency of women and men through the use of explicit forms);
- neutralization (use of the general forms). „Die erste Strategie kann offenbar auf Unterstützung durch
sprachpolitische Maßnahmen rechnen, wenn in der betreffenden Sprachgemeinschaft bereits Tendenzen des
Sprachwandels zu beobachten sind, … (Marlis Helinger, 1985). „Die Strategie der Neutralisierung bietet sich dagegen
an, wenn die betreffende Sprache keine Genussprache ist …“ (Marlis Helinger, 1985).
Feminization is a significant point applied to the language having developed gender system. The more intensive the
syntactical aspect is expressed (articles, adjectives, pronouns, conjugation), the more significant is the position of the
female gender in the language system (the Russian language). Understanding of the language as means of the social tool
leads to the social and role functions of individuals in the society.
Thus, feminization can find application in our case concerning Russian (existence of a grammatical gender), and
strategy of neutralization is applicable in Kazakh (absence of grammatical category). Besides, we find it possible to use
creative innovations of the last years of the German linguists in disputable situations (Prof. Dr. Lann Hornscheidt,
Humboldt Universität zu Berlin).
The strategy of neutralization is found in the case when the language has no gender distinction (the Kazakh language).
We consider that not any linguistic culture can use one of these strategies in pure form. Consequently, for example,
linguistic and cultural limitations in the use of the feminist expressions cannot be applied due to the style of the
language (suffix ‘sha’-‘ша’in Russian in the words as bibliotekarsha (femane librarian) is consideres as vulgar out of
the style). In this case most of the European linguists offer the use of the creative (innovative) approach.
IJALEL 5(5):246-251, 2016 249
On the basis of the studied experience we can develop further recommendations about the non-gender use of language
in written and oral speech which will be based on lexical and grammatical structures of the Kazakh and Russian
languages and partially with the use of creative approach.
4. Methods of research
Issues of research allow and demand various research methods:
- empirical methods (open interviews, discussions, observation, written poll, verification of data);
- method of critical analysis;
- method of contrastive analysis.
Empirical methods (open interviews, discussions) as classical methods of social researches are also suitable for studying
social opinion. Target group in this case includes people from various fields of activity. Poll has to show how society
treats the gender equality in the Kazakh and Russian languages illustrating how expected changes in languages are
important or will be apprehended.
Thus, poll will open new prospects or discussions about gained experience and will broaden the field of knowledge. The
critical analysis of the presented literature in Kazakhstan and Germany gives the chance to define a status quo
(problem) and offer practical alternatives.
The contrastive analysis will allow revealing what language reserves are available in both languages in order to make
subsequent proposals on the use of the known strategy.
In our research we analyzed the linguistic situation and readiness of society for the linguistic change connected with
gender equality and ongoing events.
We conducted a survey among 40 respondents (20 women and 20 men) of various professional spheres, this survey
contained the following questions:
1. What is your profession? (the aim of the question was to find out the ways of self-identification of mainly
women in their occupations).
2. How could you name your profession taking the gender identification into account? (the aim of the question
was to figure out the abilities of respondents to name themselves on the base of gender identification).
3. Have you ever thought of gender identifications concerning professions in your language as male dominating?
(the aim of the question was to present the social awareness of gender identification inequality)
The survey mentioned above represented the following results (see Table 1):
Table 1. Survey on the gender identification in professional sphere

Question Answers
What is your profession? Laboratorian
The Chairperson of the Department
Lecturer
Librarian
Accountant
Student
How could you name your profession taking the Woman laboratorian
gender identification into account? The Chairwoman of the Department
Woman lecturer
Woman librarian
Woman accountant
Woman student
Have you ever thought of gender identifications No
concerning professions in your language as male
dominating?
The analysis of the survey proved the low level of awareness of the studied problem in Kazakhstani society. However,
as it has been stated above the fairness of the language based on gender principle has been one of the factors for
establishing equality in the society due to the changes in the language having the power of transformation in the
community. For reaching gender equality it is necessary to follow formal legal equality in all human spheres, one of
those is gender and sensitive use of the language.
The table below presents information on comparative analysis of the use of strategies aimed at reaching gender equality
in the languages based on three chosen languages – German, Russian and Kazakh (see Table 2):
IJALEL 5(5):246-251, 2016 250
Table 2. Basic strategies used for reaching gender equality in German, Russian and Kazakh languages
Language Grammatical Lexical and semantic Strategies
gender in the properties
language
(presence/absence)
Feminization Neutralization
German + … Damen und Herren! Lehrerin Lehrperson
Geschäftsmann/ Lehrkräfte
Geschäftsfrau Direktion Leitung
Studierende
Russian + ... Дамы и господа! (Damy Адвокатша (Advocat- Directory
I gospoda! - Ladies and sha, suffix –sha is Administration
Gentlemen!) indicating the Studentship (instead
Бизнесмен/ бизнес-леди belonging to the of students)
(Biznesmen, Biznesledi - feminine gender in
Businessman, Russian) – woman
Businesswoman) lawyer;
Учительница
(uchitel’nitsa) – woman
teacher ;
Лаборантка
( laborantka -
laboratory assistant –
according to the
analogy of manicurist,
knitter, lacemaker,
obstetrician (taken
from Classificatory of
professions and
occupations of
technical, professional
and higher education
SC RK 05-2008)
Kazakh - (Khanymdar men myrzalar!- Cannot be possible due Isker qauym -
Ladies and Gentlemen!) to the absence of word- Business people
(Medbike, medbibi- Woman building morphemes Stuidenttik qauym -
nurse, male nurse) Studentship
(Isker/Isker aiel –
Businessman,
Businesswoman)
Violation of gender equality is seen in everyday communication. Here are some examples:
Frequently used forms of address in written communication:
 Dear readers! (in the library)
 Dear teachers! (official letters from the authorities)
 The sick person (in the hospital)
 Nationality – Kazakh, Russian, German (questionnaire of Ministry of education and science of the Republic of
Kazakhstan )
 Tatyana Arkhipova - a participant of ski competition (the Russian ‘uchastnik’, where ‘-nik’ is a male
indicating suffix – the course is News Programme on the “Alau” Channel, dated 18.03.16.
 Aiel azamattar! (‘Women Citizens’ as a direct Kazakh-English translation the course is Daua Programme,
“Kazakhstan Channel”, dated 19.03.16.
6. Conclusion
Thus, the analysis of the relevant literature has allowed identifying linguistic and extra linguistic factors of gender
reform of language in Kazakhstan.
On the basis of the gained experience it is necessary to develop further recommendations on non-gender use of the
language both in written, and in oral communication which will be based on lexical and grammatical structures of
Kazakh and Russian languages and partially with the use of creative approach.
IJALEL 5(5):246-251, 2016 251
In the nearest future more expanded interviewing at various levels is to be planned. Main questions to be discussed can
be formulated as follows: what is the state of awareness of this subject in Kazakhstan? Who is in advance of this
question: linguists, mass media or literature? This material will give an opportunity to analyze the attitude of society to
a problem of the gender and equal use of language and its prospects as well.
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Exploring Subjectivity in Verbal Reports of Iranian EFL

Learners in Institutional Discourse
Ashraf Haji Maibodi (Corresponding author)
Department of English, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Ali Mohammad Fazilatfar

Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
Hamid Allami
Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract
The present study investigates Iranian EFL learners’ subjectivity in single-subject retrospective verbal reports that allow
the examination of the changes in the cognitive, social and affective processes involved in L2 pragmatic production. To
this end, eighteen EFL learners at three proficiency levels produced verbal reports after the administration of a written
discourse completion task eliciting requests and apology in asymmetrical (status-unequal) relations in institutional
discourse. Qualitative analyses of students’ responses indicate that sociocultural, socio-psychological and socio-
affective aspects of the discourse situations influenced both their pragmalinguistic and sociolinguistic choices and
negotiation of lexical and grammatical choices in planning the speech acts of requests and apologies. Apparently, the
degree of sociocultural accommodation to the L2 pragmatic norms may be a matter of choice as of ability.
Keywords: learner subjectivity, pragmalinguistic, sociolinguistic, retrospective verbal reports, institutional discourse
1. Introduction
In the field of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP), substantial studies combining retrospective verbal reports (RVRs) have
revealed the cognitive processes learners use in pragmatic production. RVRs are subsequent to the task and prompt
learners to report on the thoughts they had during task completion (Jourdenais, 2001). This refers to information on how
learners assessed and planned their speech act utterances, their language of thought, the planning of their responses and
how they selected and retrieved language forms (Cohen, 2013; Cohen & Olshtain, 1993; Felix-Brasdefer, 2006, 2008;
Hassall, 2008; Trosborg, 1995; Woodfield, 2010, 2012). As a form of introspection of verbalized thought processes of
participants these reports can also be invaluable tools in exploring the competence underlying speakers’ performance
(Kormos, 1998) because they aim to provide insights into the reasoning behind learners’ written or spoken behaviors
during language production (Jourdenais, 2001; Gass & Mackey, 2000).
The theoretical basis for verbal reports lies in an information-processing theory of memory (Ericsson & Simon, 1993).
The advantage of administering RVRs immediately after the cognitive task is that they will help to minimize the
possibility that participants may start relying on inferences rather than reporting what happened. Furthermore, RVRs
can also help to assess the level of awareness of the participants in a task designed to help them to attend to certain
aspects of the input. Ren (2013) argued that “When designed and executed with caution, particularly in combination
with other data collection methods, the RVR can provide researchers with added in-depth insights into participants’
pragmatic knowledge” (p. 576). Understanding such strategies and processes has been deemed crucial in drawing
inferences about test-takers’ abilities which are responsible for their performance. For example, Cohen and Olshtain
(1993) found data from the RVRs indicated that lack of pragmatic knowledge led to learners’ difficulties in
communicating pragmatic intentions. Moreover, for empirical studies, the effect of instruction and the role of attention
in second language acquisition (SLA) “collecting data through verbal reports can give more accurate, detailed
information that was impossible to obtain by means of the pretest–treatment–posttest experimental design” (Camps,
p.202). This methodological improvement has strengthened the empirical support for the “noticing hypothesis”
(Schmidt, 1993).
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 253
However, there is a lot of controversy regarding the validity and reliability of the RVRs that are widely used in
language-learning research (Gass & Mackey, 2000; Jourdenais, 2001; Ren, 2013). RVRs may not accurately reflect
participants’ cognitive processes or there is a possibility that learners may provide inaccurate reasons for their thoughts.
The validity of the RVR may also be affected by over reporting (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977) and learners may hypothesize
regarding the cognitive process rather than report actual behavior. That is, they may report more than their
cognition. For example, particularly in the case of high-task complexity (Ericsson & Simon, 1993; Gass & Mackey,
2000) it has been noted that some information on cognitive processes may not be accessible by verbal reports (Seliger,
1983). On the other hand, Camps (2003) believed that lack of verbalization does not necessarily mean that learners are
not aware of the elements they are processing.
Learners approach the task of learning another language in different ways, according to various individual
characteristics. One of these characteristics is the beliefs ((Horwitz, 1999) that are really important because success
depends more on what goes on inside the learner than on techniques and materials used and the attitudes they develop
will motivate the learner to act in a specified manner. EFL students have different needs, preferences and perceptions
that are recognized as a significant contributory factor in the learning process and ultimate success and imposition of
change upon these factors can lead to negative reactions. Learners work selectively within their learning environment
from their conceptualizations of the conditions and of the language to be learned that they believe to be facilitating or
hindering their learning and also upon the linguistic and communicative data made available to them in that
environment.
Although verbal reports elicit specific information regarding learners’ cognitive processes, to date, only few studies on
L2 pragmatics have examined learners’ cognitive processes in the performance of speech acts (Cohen & Olshtain, 1993;
Fe´lix-Brasdefer, 2008; Hassall, 2008; Ren, 2013; Woodfield 2010, 2012). Hence, the present study that was based on
a larger research project (Haji Maibodi, 2016) went a step forward to use the RVRs as a springboard for discussion in
search for instances of learners’ subjectivity and agency in relation to speech act performance. The focus of the present
study was on the intentional and conscious responses given by participants to requests and apologies in institutional
discourse that are likely to be influenced by sociocultural, socio-affective and socio-psychological aspects of the
context. To this end verbal reports were administered to measure: (1) the cognitive information that participants
attended to during interaction; (2) the selection of the language of thought for planning and executing a speech act in
status-unequal situations; and finally (3) to understand the role of noticing in ILP. The objective of this study was to
find qualitative and pedagogical evidence to the following research question:
 How do EFL learners in the three academic levels (undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD students) explain
their language awareness to deliberately converge or diverge from perceived FL pragmatic norms?
2. Review of Literature
2.1 Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP)
ILP is the investigation of non-native speakers’ comprehension and production of speech acts, and the acquisition of
L2-related speech act knowledge (Kasper & Dahl, 1991). The distinction between sociopragmatics and
pragmalinguistics (Leech, 1983) is well accepted in pragmatics research. Pragmalinguistic competence is primarily
linguistic knowledge for realizing and understanding the speaker’s intentions (e.g., knowledge of syntactic structures
and semantic formulae for a speech act) and accounts for ‘the more linguistic end of pragmatics’ (Leech, 1983).
Sociopragmatic competence, on the other hand, is knowledge of sociocultural norms and conventions and the ability to
evaluate contextual factors in understanding and expressing intended meaning (e.g., semantic content and choice of
politeness strategies) and described as ‘the sociological interface of pragmatics’, referring to the social perceptions
underlying participants’ interpretation and performance of communicative action (Leech, 1983).
2.2 Institutional Discourse
Institutional discourse, as an important source of spontaneous discourse in ILP research, is the talk that occurs in the
course of carrying out an institution’s business, usually between an institutional representative and a client (e.g., faculty
advisor and graduate student). It is the type of discourse, which is authentic and consequential, and at the same time can
be compared to many other samples taken from the same setting. This type of interaction involves an orientation by at
least one of the participants to some core goal, task or identity (or set of them) conventionally associated with the
institution in question (Bardovi-Harlig & Hartford, 2005). This type of talk usually takes place in relatively fixed
locations often at predictable times through the scheduling of appointments or the hours of operation within the
institution (Ellis, 2008) and helps in data collection because the nature of such discourse topics can be anticipated in
advance (Bardovi-Harlig & Hartford, 2005, p. 15).
2.3 Speech act of Requests and Apology
For the present study, the choice of the two speech acts of request and apology in institutional discourse was based on
the following considerations:
1. Requests, as pre-events (face threatening acts) (Uso-Juan, 2010; Woodfield & Economidou-Kogetsidis, 2010;
Woodfield, 2010) affect the face of the hearer and express the speaker’s expectation of the hearer about a
prospective action, verbal or nonverbal.
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 254
2. Apologies, as post events (face saving acts), (Bergman & Kasper, 1993; Blum-Kulka, House & Kasper, 1989;
Cohen & Olshtain, 1993; Trosborg, 1995) counteract the speaker’s face signaling the fact that the event has
already taken place (Brown & Levinson, 1987).
3. These speech acts are the most-studied in cross-cultural and ILP and are particularly interesting for a
developmental investigation, as they are utterances that EFL learners normally make in their institutional
discourse.
2.4 Speech Accommodation Theory
The speech accommodation theory (SAT) was devised to explain some of the motivations underlying certain shifts in
people’s speech styles during social encounters and some of the social consequences arising from them. This theory
(Beebe & Giles, 1984) originated in order to elucidate the cognitive and affective processes underlying speech
convergence and divergence. They maintain that L2 speaker’ social variables (e.g., objectively defined social categories
such as age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status) alone would not determine their speech behavior; rather, L2
speakers’ “own subjective attitudes, perceptions of situations, cognitive and affective dispositions, and the like may
interact to determine their speech outputs” (p. 5).
2.4.1 Learner Subjectivity; Agency
Following Weedon (1997) in this study “subjectivity” is defined as “the conscious and unconscious thoughts and
emotions of the individual, her sense of herself and her ways of understanding her relation to the world” (p. 32). From a
sociocultural point of view, learners are social beings loaded with their own views and perceptions of the world, values,
beliefs, morals, feelings, and personal principles. Their subjectivity, as Ishihara (2006) believed may be influenced
largely by their own community norms and practices that may sometimes be incongruent with the norms of the second
language community.
The construct subjectivity is essentially synonymous with that of social identity and is used interchangeably. According
to Norton (1997), identity refers to “how people understand their relationship to the world, how that relationship is
constructed across time and space, and how people understand their possibilities for the future” (p. 410). And the term
“subject” is a particularly helpful one, as it reminds us that we are often “subject of” a set of relationships (i.e. in a
position of relative power) or “subject to” a set of relationships (i.e. in a position of relative powerlessness)” (Norton &
Toohey, 2011, p. 417). Individuals make personal meaning in the immediate social context where their individual
dispositions play a pivotal role in the formation and reformation of subjectivity (Ishihara, 2008).
Subjectivity in sociocultural terms has also been identified as its agency-giving nature in its relation to power and
institution (LoCastro, 2003; Norton, 1997) and can be defined as a self-reliant, independent, or self-defining capacity to
operate with volition and power to bring about an effect, change, or decision. ‘Agency’ is not simply an individual
character trait or activity, but a contextually enacted way of being in the world and has the potential of being related to
issues such as volition, intentionality, initiative, intrinsic motivation and autonomy (van Lier, 2008).
3. Method
3.1 Participants
The verbal reports for this study was gathered from 18 students—males (N=9) and females (N=9) selected from three
TEFL groups (eight senior undergraduates, six postgraduates, and four PhD) from two universities. Their ages ranged
from 20 to 35 years. Demographic information of the students was related to gender, age, nationality and marital status.
The information showed that they had started studying English at school when they were about twelve years old (three
years in guidance school and four years at high school) and at the age of eighteen, they had taken a serious interest in
the language. None of the participants had ever been to an English speaking country like the U.S.A, U.K or Australia
for at least three months. Neither did they have native speakers as teachers nor had specific instructions in pragmatics or
speech acts before or during this study. The rationale behind choosing university students as a source of data collection
was a convenience of sampling as well as following from most of the prior studies (Woodfield & Economidou-
Kogetsidis, 2010) on speech acts in which the participants had been university students. Nevertheless, caution is needed
and that is, not to generalize from a group of students to the full range of an overall population.
3.2 Procedures
Initially, the proficiency levels of the participants were evaluated through the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). Students’
were divided to three proficiency levels based on the scores obtained on the OPT —low intermediate, upper
intermediate and advanced—according to the standards set by the test itself. Although the OPT is a standard
measurement, the KR-21 formula, the reliability index for the OPT in the present study was found to be 0.85, which is
considered an acceptable level of reliability.
The RVRs for the present study focused not only on the cognitive processes involved in the planning and execution of
requests and apologies but also to study learner’s subjectivity and agency after the completion of the Written Discourse
Completion Tasks (WDCT). Participants were asked to report on the thoughts they had while they were completing the
tasks. The speech act situations concentrated only on the discourse that normally takes place between the faculty and the
students. The scenarios represented an area of institutional discourse with the aim that the students will address a
professor of a course within their major and could be occasions that they may encounter outside the classroom. The
following Table1 gives the list of speech act situations.
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 255
Table 1. List of situations for written discourse completion tasks (WDCTs)

Situation 1: rechecking the paper (request) Situation 6: being late for class (apology)
Situation 2: computer to be repaired Situation 7: asking for interview (request)
(request)
Situation 3: spilling tea on borrowed book Situation 8: missing appointment
(apology) (apology)
Situation 4: borrowing book (request) Situation 9: asking for extension for term
project (request) enhanced prompt
Situation 5: losing the book (apology) Situation 10: accident on the stairway
(apology) enhanced prompt
The verbal reports administered were based on students’ responses to the WDCTs and included both fixed and data-
driven questions (Woodfield, 2010). In the verbalization process, Ericsson and Simon’s (1993, p. 198) fixed question
helped to formulate the four types of statements: intentions, cognitions, planning and evaluations. These questions
included, ‘what did you notice about the situation?’; ‘what were you paying attention to’; ‘were you satisfied with your
answer?’ In order to avoid asking leading questions, Jourdenais (2001, p. 357) believed that researchers should ask
“focused yet open-ended questions and providing contextual cues” will help the learner to reconstruct the situation. For
example, ‘In task X you said that you felt (utterance) was more polite, can you say more about this?’ Moreover,
participants in this study were also asked to indicate the language of their thoughts and were given a choice to choose
their language –Persian or English—so that they will not be under any pressure. In line with Felix-Brasdefer (2008, p.
203) findings showed that learners switched the language of thought to English when having trouble with
pragmalinguistic information. For example,
Which language were you relying on in making your decision: Persian or English?
(1) I tried to concentrate more on my English knowledge because it had engaged my mind and I found it much
easier to think in English.
(2) Due to culture gap and the way of thinking, I was searching for the exact words in English.
In this report, only a few samples are taken into consideration and data analyses of the RVRs centered on the
sociocultural, socio-affective and socio-psychological aspects of the context.
4. Results and Discussions
Following Woodfield (2010, p. 9) an initial coding framework was established. Within this framework, three discrete
categories emerged inductively: orientate, solve and evaluate. Initially, the RVRs were coded according to (i)
participants’ language of thought; (ii) learner difficulties with the methodology; (iii) sources of learners’ pragmatic
knowledge and (iv) knowledge statements relating to learners’ pragmalinguistic or sociopragmatic knowledge. As such,
1,800 verbal reports were taken from the students at the three proficiency levels. All learners orientated to the
sociocontextual aspects of the WDCTs reflecting the universal pragmatic knowledge brought to the task (Kasper &
Rose, 2002). Analysis revealed that learners evaluated the appropriateness of linguistic strategies in response to the task.
This was in line with ‘Orientation’, which refers to those episodes where participants attend to task goals, task language,
and contextual aspects of the WDCTs (Woodfield, 2010).
In general, pragmatic competence in the L1 is the result of language socialization (Kecskes, 2015). The inference is that
learners have a certain level of pragmatic comprehension ability, and any variations in the responses could be due to
sociocultural considerations of the task, and to an extent linguistic consideration. Data from the present study supported
Woodfield (2010) in that RVRs relating to learners’ sociopragmatic knowledge evidenced not only learners’ assessment
of the relative importance of different aspects of the situation but also ways in which such assessment mediated
pragmalinguistic choices. Interestingly, learners’ analysis of the situational variables such as the interlocutor’s age,
gender and status of the interlocutor could have been a vital factor that mediates L2 socialization and might constrain
L2 learners’ opportunity or desire to participate in the community of practice.
Was there anything in the situation that you felt you should consider when you decided how to make your
request or to apologize?
(1) I have had such experiences so many times. I know it is useless making such a request. You feel so helpless and
ashamed!
(2) Very often, when I had such a problem I would always go to my lecturer and talk to him. But here I had to
write it out. Making a request or apologizing is sometimes very difficult.
(3) What I could say orally in Persian was difficult to write in English. Finding the proper words to show my
intentions was very difficult (low intermediate).
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 256
Although governed by socio-psychological notions of appropriateness, in line with Ren (2013), learners reported paying
increasingly more attention to socio-pragmatics when they responded to each situation of the task. Supporting previous
studies (Cohen & Olshtain, 1993; Fe´lix-Brasdefer, 2006: Hassall, 2008; Woodfield, 2010, 2012), collected data
suggested that learners focused not only on grammar and vocabulary but also on their L1 socio-pragmatic and
pragmalinguistic knowledge and politeness. Especially, RVRs of the low intermediates indicated the influence of
perceptions of status-differences between student and tutor (Fukushima, 2000) on planning processes. This was evident
in these learners opting for direct strategies indicating that they had difficulties in selecting the appropriate forms
according to appropriate levels of directness and indirectness in speech act production. There was evidence of formal
instructions on pragmatic choices (Hassall, 2008; Woodfield, 2010). Students reported thinking the utterance through
quickly in Persian (L1), before producing it in English (L2), because they felt that they were more confident in their L1
rather in the L2.
What were you paying attention to? The type of information you wanted to give.
(1) Trying to decide between ‘can you/will you’ and ‘could you/would you’ was difficult. I thought using these
words is too rude for my professor.
(2) In most of the situations, I was thinking about how the person is going to react to my answer. The reaction of
my lecturer and professor is very important.
RVRs show that there are many linguistic elements available to a learner that may not be equally used during online
processing. For example, the form and the word order will differ largely between the L1 and L2.This highlights the
complexity of language processing demands in speech act production for learners and focuses on the key role of
noticing the input into L2 learners’ pragmatic development (Schmidt, 1993). Ericsson and Simon (1993) believed that
training learners to provide protocols might assist them in providing more complete and accurate portrayals of their
behaviors. Moreover, Uso-Juan and Martinez-Flor (2014) argued, “RVRs will help researchers to obtain learners’
insightful information (i.e. the planning and execution of speech act production, pragmatic knowledge, as well as the
attended aspects when uttering speech acts) that is not accessible through an analysis of DCT response data alone” (p.
117).
The second category referred to as ‘Solution’ related to those language-related episodes (Swain, 1995) where learners
generated hypotheses in the form of linguistic strategies in response to the WDCTs and attempted to find a resolution
(Woodfield, 2010). Previous ILP studies employing RVRs asked individual learners to retrospect on their choice of
forms during oral role-play (Cohen & Olshtain, 1993; Fe´lix-Brasdefer, 2008; Hassall, 2008).
(1) We had learnt that requests start with ‘would you/could you…’ I knew I was writing to my lecturer. Mr.
Moradi is very strict but also kind.
(2) She is very nice but in such cases, I have no experience. Will you/could you…no I don’t like to beg or plead for
something. I like my requests and apologies to be sincere and reasonable.
(3) Writing is difficult for me, especially to my professors in the university. I felt so weak while making requests
and clumsy and stupid while apologizing (female-advanced level).
These participant-initiated reports (Woodfield, 2010) were instrumental in revealing learners’ grammatical and lexical
difficulties in formulating appropriate written responses to the task.
L2 learner agency has been reported as a form of resistance to accept sociocultural practice of a target language
community. When L2 learners find a conflict between their belief and a normative practice of a target language
community, they resist emulating it (Ishihara, 2006). The third category ‘Evaluation’ is related to those utterances in
which learners evaluate the appropriateness of linguistic strategies in response to the task (Woodfield, 2010). For
example, most of the written productions did not have ‘alerters’ or ‘attention getters.’ They did not start with ‘Dear’ a
term that Iranian EFL learners have not come to accept as a ‘neutral’ form in opening all letters. Even there was no use
of ‘Good morning/afternoon.’ However, some low proficient learners opted for the informal language of ‘Hi’, ‘Hello’ or
even a simple ‘you.’ Neither did they have a closing for their responses, like ‘thank you’ or ‘sincerely’ or ‘respectfully.’
Much of the language used to accomplish these purposes is in fact are quite formulaic and conventionalized and
students were not aware that these rules have to be adhered to even in writing.
Did you open your writing with ‘Excuse me, Sir, or Excuse me, Madame’? Why/why not?
(1) No. I am sorry I forgot what I had to say at the beginning.
(2) I started with “excuse me.” I should have written “Dear.” How can I say, “Dear Professor, will you do this
for me…?”
(3) Some of your situations wanted an apology. How can I say, “Dear Professor, I am sorry I am happy to tell you
that I lost your book” is this correct? Or “sorry, I spilt tea on your book.”
(4) I cannot say, “Hello, Sir I lost your book. You see I am sorry.” I am not a child. Just imagine, “Sorry Madame
for pushing you down the stairs…”
These statements show that utterances were related to participants’ language of thought, evidence of self and their
difficulties with the methodology. Bardovi-Harlig and Hartford (1990) believed that when considering face-to-face
office hour consultations, students would be expected to follow a certain social protocol, which includes greetings,
some small talk, and leave-taking at the verbal level. These findings revealed that learners opportunity to produce
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 257
‘comprehensible output’ (Swain, 1985) will create the means for them to ‘notice the gap’ in their interlanguage ability
which will later on help them to make adjustments in order to approximate the TL pragmatic norms.
In Persian, politeness is achieved mainly through the use of pre-posed supportive moves in which the request is likely to
start with an apology, a phatic inquiry, an excuse or even a compliment. Learners of a foreign language already know
how to be polite within their own language and culture, but in their attempts to transfer their native conventions to the
target language, they may run into unexpected problems. Kecskes (2015, p. 4) believed “pragmatic rules (language use
rules), however, are different: not following them may cause misinterpretation of linguistic behavior and many different
reactions from the hearers.” However, pragmatic function cannot be completely learned even if learners notice what
specific term is used for addressing someone; learners are required to recognize why that particular form was used in
relation to the social context of the interaction (Schmidt, 1993).
In trying to understand how well students comprehended and responded to the speech act situations a few instances
were observed. For example, in taking responsibility for committing an offense that necessitated an apology, males felt
embarrassed to apologize. In order not be considered as a careless or clumsy person they preferred to settle the matter
without losing face. As Kecskes (2015) believed, “People, no matter how many languages they speak have one
pragmatic competence which is modified dynamically depending on the exposure to different languages and cultures
and individual preferences” (p. 2).
Surprisingly, the frequent use of ‘upgraders’ by most of the males showed they did not feel obliged to be more polite.
For example, “Hi Doc! Are you sure you corrected my paper?” “Hi lady, sorry for pushing you.” Previous studies have
shown the learning environment to be significant in the development of L2 learners’ pragmatic awareness (Bardovi-
Harlig & Dornyei, 1998; Schauer, 2006; Woodfield, 2012). Furthermore, evidence from cross-sectional studies
examining learners’ variation of strategies according to social status (Trosborg, 1995; Rose, 2000) suggest that learners
may take time to develop appropriate mapping of linguistic forms to social categories.
(1) In Iran, we are very careful when making formal requests. It is difficult for most of us.
(2) No, I do not feel ashamed to say ‘I am sorry.’ But I can never say ‘Dear’ especially to a male… “Dear
professor I lost your book.”
(3) I will not apologize or even make an unnecessary request. But if I have to I will think about it (upper
intermediate male).
Pragmatic rules of language use function like suggestions and/or recommendations by the members of a speech
community, which are based on norms, behavioral patterns, conventions and standards of that community (Kecskes,
2015). Beeman (2001) observed, “The basic dimensions of Iranian society are not terribly complex in a structural sense,
but they provide for a rich play of linguistic expression” (p. 40). Few societies take the obligations of status as seriously
as the Iranian society.
Borrowing a book from your lecturer and then losing it.
(1) No, I will never borrow a book from my lecturer. No, I will not do it. Then to lose the book. At the university
the next semester, you may have some classes with the same lecturer. I cannot be so careless. I do not know
how to say sorry.
Accident on the stairway
(2) I will not write and say I am sorry. I will go and see her personally.
(3) Imagine pushing an aged professor and simply saying, “I am sorry.” It is really ridiculous.
In Iranian life, there are orientations that are positively valued, and others that are negatively valued (Beeman, 2001).
Learners’ answers demonstrated the influence of considerations of status and power differences on linguistic choices.
O’Shea (2000) observed, “All Iranians measure themselves to a great extent by the honor they accumulate through their
actions and social interrelations” (p. 101).
How did you see your relationship with the person you were communicating with? Was it intimate, formal or
informal? Please explain.
(1) Yes. I have experienced such situations so many times. I knew that I was writing to my lecturer. It is a very
formal situation. I think it is much better than being face-to-face with the person. But I am not good in writing.
(2) Some of the situations were really embarrassing; yes I would write what I wanted to say orally. There was no
intimacy at all.
Female participants seemed to be more pragmatically socialized than men. Analysis of their responses showed that they
focused on the context and based on the beliefs they hold about language learning they will approach the task according
to various learner characteristics.
Extension for paper
(1) As it is, my professor thinks that females are too lazy. No, I would never make such a request. I would stay up
the whole night and get done with it.
(2) Oh! He is very strict. As a PhD student, I do not want my professor to think that I am careless or lazy. I am
always very careful when I approach my professors.
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 258
Iranian EFL learners experience a range of linguistic difficulties in formulating speech acts (requests and apologies)
especially in academic contexts. In line with Hassall (2008), in the planning and execution of the speech acts findings
from the RVRs indicated a range of thoughts: these included verbal planning; pragmatics (i.e. politeness/social
appropriateness); conversational management and emotion/affect. For example, low intermediate learners reported
thinking about pragmatics much less often than they reported thinking about the linguistic planning of the speech act.
Conversely, unlike Felix-Brasdefer (2006, p. 21), findings showed that the upper intermediates and advanced level
reported thinking about pragmatics more often than thinking about linguistic planning. They were aware of the speech
act situations and their language clearly focused on the message and varied according to the socio-affective aspects of
pragmatic norms.
In those situations you wanted to make a request, did you think you are in a position to insist something?
(1) No. I do not think I will be foolish to let such things happen. The answer I give is important because in the
future I may have some courses with that professor. I don’t like somebody to think that I am a careless and
irresponsible.
(2) For me as a girl I do not like to ask my lecturers to do something for me. No, I will never insist. Of course, I
will be polite and think before I ask for something.
Persian has its own honorifics and that honorifics are associated with politeness is often taken for granted. Today
modern Persian shares with English a rich repertoire of speech act strategies, which is fully exploited in actual use.
However, it must be noted that pragmatic competence is largely governed by the attitudes developed by the person. For
many, group harmony and solidarity represent fundamental cultural values. In all institutional interactions conforming
to the institutional norms (Bardovi-Harlig & Hartford, 2005) involves the use of mitigating strategies to soften the threat
incurred to one’s face or one’s public self-image in communication.
Students evaluated the speech act situations in accordance with choices of linguistic forms for politeness and searches
of appropriate content for supportive moves and appropriate lexico-pragmatic items (Woodfield, 2010). Although their
responses to the questions were strongly influenced by L1 sociopragmatic knowledge in line with Bialystock (1993) it
can be understood that EFL students do have the pragmalinguistic knowledge to form an appropriate request or apology
but they have not yet gained full attentional control over that knowledge. However, it must be noted that certain aspects
of L2 pragmatics –pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic– do not develop sufficiently without instruction. Apparently,
learners who learn the language in a classroom outside the target culture appear to be less sensitive to appropriateness
and place more importance on grammatical accuracy instead (Bardovi-Harlig & Do¨rnyei, 1998).
Analysis of the responses showed that ‘noticing’ or ‘understanding’ (Schmidt, 1993) the input had not taken place
especially for many of the low intermediates. Difficulties in retrieving appropriate forms were identified. Either they
were not aware of the target structure, or some may have been but they did not verbalize their awareness. Under the
‘Noticing Hypothesis’, when L2 learners encounter problems to communicate their message (i.e., with their grammar),
they notice the problems; subsequent input exposure would then help learners notice the gap between their
interlanguage and the target language model (Schmidt, 1993).
Do you think you need instruction in pragmatics?
(1) I do not know. We learn English forms and speech patterns from our books. But I know it is not enough. I think
I have to watch more English films and video clips. Yes, we need proper instructions.
(2) I need to learn the appropriate words, appropriate expressions, according to the situations when I request or
apologize. Probably, if I knew how to apologize or make a request to your professor. The problem was with
how to say.
However, findings suggest that not all input that learners are exposed to is available to the learner’s developing
linguistic system.
In a situation you had to apologize what words did you choose to show that you would make up for the
situation—compromise?
(1) Trying to apologize in English is very difficult for me. In Persian, it is much better. How can I tell my teacher
that I am truly sorry in English? I do not know the proper words.
(2) As a male, I am proud to tell you that I will apologize whenever I have done something wrong. It is much
easier to apologize in Persian. It sounds more sincere. But never for an incident I did not do on purpose.
Essentially, institutional discourse is marked sharply by the distinction that is held constant between power, social
distance and relative imposition. Students are aware of the type of conversation that normally takes places in the
exchanges between the faculty (lecturer or professor) and the student at large. Considerations of status differences and
social power are significant and these sociolinguistic considerations clearly influenced learner perceptions reflecting
performance in varying degrees.
Please think of the situations once again. How serious or important were the situations?
(1) The situations were the ones that we normally experience in our university. But personally, I will never let
such things happen.
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 259
(2) The status and the social power of my lecturer at the university are very important for my future. I have always
been polite in my life and I will never misbehave either in words or in actions.
According to Hassall (2008) verbal reports, ask learners to report whatever they were thinking and then examine those
reports to gain insights into what they know about pragmatics and how they acquire pragmatic knowledge and ability.
In response to:
How did you see the situations? Which language was easier-English or Persian when you were writing the
answers? Why/why not? Those students who felt that they diverged from the target language norms wrote:
(1) I am an Iranian and I am living in Iran. I am studying English but it is not my mother tongue, I do not think in
English all the time. Like an Iranian, I will approach my professor and tell him what happened.
(2) I can never be like an American student. In Iran, our lifestyle even the way we speak, think and act is different.
When I had to make a request or apologize, I was thinking of my professor who is also an Iranian like me.
(3) Yes I did. Because when I want to write, I have to think of the words to be used. If I could answer in Persian, I
knew what to say and how to say it.
Do you think there is a difference between a teacher, tutor, instructor, lecturer and a professor? What is the
difference?
(1) In Iran there is great difference regarding social position and prestige. I can talk to my schoolteacher very,
very easily but in the university, our lecturers do not want to understand us.
(2) I can ask my schoolteacher for something. But here I have to be careful when I ask something from my
professors. We are young and many things will happen.
From the above responses, it is clear that many of these learners associated their language use with their personality and
social identity rather than with the foreign language itself. Moreover, those students who were detected as the divergent
group believed that their response depended on the person to whom they were writing. Although the idea of always
assessing the social relationship between the speakers was second nature to language speakers, the divergence group
seemed to have based their assessment more on their L1 norms. Interestingly many of the male students chose to use the
values of their Persian culture as the basis of their performance in L2.
Did the hearer’s status/position affect your language and the way you addressed him/her?
(1) I knew I had to write to my lecturer. I was searching for the correct words. I tried to think in English. I wanted
to use Persian expressions. Writing in English is difficult.
(2) It is easier to say ‘I’m sorry’ but asking your professor, ‘will you…?’ ‘Can you….’ is not easy. I will talk to my
lecturer. As a PhD student, I did not want to be careless or make use of some excuses that will show how
careless and stupid I am.
Pragmatic awareness has been described as important in the generation and negotiation of meaning. It has been engaged
when speakers evaluate context in their formulations of certain speech acts, such as (Bergman & Kasper, 1993).
Pragmatic norms are believed to be a range of tendencies or conventions for pragmatic language use that are not
absolute or fixed but are typical or generally preferred in the L2 community. The pragmatic difficulties reported in the
RVRs indicate the importance of acquiring L2 pragmatic knowledge. Learners’ judgment of L2 pragmatic norms and
perception of their own language and their attitudes of the learned language had a determining influence on language
use. For example, in contrast to Hassall (2008) the upper intermediate learners in this study reported thinking about both
the pragmatics and linguistic consequences of their language.
What do you think native speakers of English would say?
(1) Yes, I regularly watch American movies and lifestyle. But I was not sure whether an American will
respond like the way I did. Remember that they are native speakers of English and they have a full
command of the language.
(2) For me the situation was in an Iranian context and as a Persian speaker, I was careful that I would not
hurt my professor’s feelings. I have to be sure that he has positive impressions about me. Writing in
English is difficult for all of us.
(3) Americans will not think like me. And even if I want to be like them in the university this type of behavior
will not be approved. In America, I think you are free to express yourself more directly. I heard about this
from my friends who study there.
(4) In our society, requests to friends are usually made straightforwardly. However, I think American society
values individualism and people do not like to interfere in other’s freedom of act or privacy. Here we are
closer—we care.
In line with Hassall (2008) and Ren (2013), acquiring pragmatic knowledge can also be a major task for the adult L2
learners. Hassall (2008, p. 79) believed that FL learners, even when performing pragmatically sensitive tasks, pay more
attention to expressing their propositional message with adequate clarity than they do to being adequately polite. These
tasks still demand a good deal of conscious effort from them and so consume most of their language processing
capacity. This means they are unable to pay more attention to pragmatics without suffering cognitive overload.
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 260
Students’ responses to the speech act situations were not based on the instructions they had received, but rather on their
created intentions. They reported that they had gained this knowledge through their use of language both inside and
outside the classroom. As Sharifian (2013) observed, many learners bring the conceptual system that they have
developed while learning their L1 into the learning of an L2, assuming that every single unit of conceptualization in
their repertoire has an equivalent in the conceptual system associated with the L2. Bialystok (1993) argued that
acquiring knowledge is of relatively minor importance for adult L2 learners of pragmatics. They generally produce
inappropriate utterances not because their knowledge is deviant but because they cannot access it rapidly enough to use
it when they need it.
(1) Do you mean the language? Yes. I think Americans are friendlier with their professors. I remember a reading
on ‘Culture Shock’ there you see the difference.
(2) I understood the situations but I did not see anything serious about the events. We are young and many things
will happen. Our lecturers too have to be understanding. Why don’t they want to think that all that we do is
unintentional?
In different social situations, people engage actively in communication with different interlocutors and in fact,
experience self- identity shifts because of their English learning experience. For example, advanced learners because of
their individual differences (language experience, age, gender) seemed to be more self-confident in their responses. No
doubt, their RVRs revealed features of self-identity or subjectivity. They largely appeared to emulate perceived FL
norms because they were aware of the negative repercussions of diverging from FL pragmatic norms, yet sometimes
still opted to express their subjectivity by resisting those norms. These were the responses given to situation 1 (see
Table 1) by three female-advanced learners:
(1) Excuse me, Dr. G. I saw my marks and I am not happy with it. I think I have done better and I deserve
something better. My paper has to be rechecked.
(2) Good morning. Dr. A, I had done my level best for my linguistics exam. But there seems to be some problems
about my marks. I think there is discrimination because of my age or because of that …
(3) Dear Dr. F, I had some problems but I do not think these are my marks. Will you kindly allow me to see my
paper?
Interestingly, one of the factors that determine the relative status of individuals in the Iranian society is gender. In this
social structure, there are asymmetries between men and women with respect to power, status, and autonomy and role
visibility. Iranian women are expected to be more polite and use honorifics more than men to maintain their composure
and dignity and they are criticized easily for being impolite or behaving inappropriately and sometimes, these criticisms
can be severe too. Students were told that their responses seemed to be rude. Their response was: (interview)
(1) You are right! But you see I am a teacher too and I am not a lazy student. I know what it means to be partial.
My Professor knows me very well. I have been pushed around a lot. They do not treat women properly in
classes. I feel so hopeless when I have to make a request.
(2) I have always felt this discrimination between me and the other students who are much younger than I am. I
can understand how a student will feel.
(3) I have always been on time in submitting my assignments. But I cannot understand why my professors behave
like this. Someone has to tell them to be just and impartial.
Appeal to hearer for understanding and leniency may signal warmth, intimacy, solidarity, and common ground.
Supporting Ishihara (2006, 2008) the RVRs show a defensive orientation towards saving one’s own face by justifying
or explaining the reason for their failure. The learner perceives the language (a linguistic expression in context) as it
relates to him/her and at the same time, reexamines his/her sense of identity in light of the meaning perceived (cf. van
Lier, 2008). In exercising their agency, learners are making an effort to make an initiative to be heard, to be original by
saying something new and different. Norton (1997, p. 410) argued that learners are in search for a desire for
recognition, a desire for affiliation, and a desire for security. Apparently, students seemed to rely on their beliefs,
values, and personal principles (i.e., equality beyond social status/gender) that they held under those circumstances and
applied these standards to interpreting the speech act situations and using the FL in those particular contexts. In contrast
to females whose subjectivity was reflected as self-identity, males’ notions of identity were mostly related to their
language and culture. This initiative taking of learners open up new pathways for teaching and learning.
From the RVRs, it can be understood that learners are situated in their lives and their learning contexts differ from one
another. In order to get their message across it appears that learners first focus their energies on the basic lexical and
syntactic elements of the particular language before they engage in mitigation. Cultural conceptualizations may not be
equally imprinted in the mind of every individual member of a cultural group but are rather more or less shared between
the members (Sharifian, 2013). In addition, Iranian EFL learners due to their own cultural, religious and social
upbringing are constantly reminded of the consequences of their thoughts and behavior in terms of what others may say
or think about them.
Was there anything in the situations that you felt you should consider, like when making a request/apology—was
anything particularly important about the situations?
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 261
(1) I think I had to be polite because I wanted an extension for my assignment. I knew I was writing to my
professor but I could not find the right words.
(2) Everybody expects a female student to be polite, obedient and careful. Not a…
(3) Some of the situations were embarrassing and I felt more involved. I was trying to be formal in my requests
and sincere in my apologies. I wanted to be polite.
EFL learners with high linguistic competence feel worried about their lack of pragmatic competence. They perceived
the verbalization of the speech acts as one of incurring indebtedness or asserting a reciprocal social relationship, as is
often the case in their L1s and this very often entails an obligation not only for the speaker, but also for the hearer to
comply.
(1) The lecturer is older has a high social status and is completely different to a friend so I have to be more formal
I do not know how the English people say to the teacher. My professors’ reaction is important. I do not know…
The verbal reports provided timely insights into current states of the learners’ socio-pragmatic knowledge and the
sources of that knowledge (Ren, 2013). Evidently, the learning environment (Hassall, 2008; Woodfield, 2012)
influences the EFL learners’ knowledge and this can be a significant factor in the development of L2 pragmatic
awareness. Culturally based differences occur when language learners need to perform a particular speech act they will
select from a variety of strategies and linguistic forms that are based upon the social norms and linguistic forms that
characterize their first language. In line with Cook (1999), it is clear that the context that the student brings to
understand a message may differ among individuals because of their internal states and cognitive abilities. L2 users are
not failed native speakers. As Kesckes (2015) observed, “Socio-pragmatic norms and conventions concerning
appropriateness developed through L1 are very influential and difficult to change. Exposure to and immerging into the
new language and culture are not enough to change them” (p. 3).
 Just imagine telling your lecturer you spilt tea on his book. No, I will never apologize. I may even have a few
courses the next semester. I will replace the spoilt book with a new one. He is my superior. I should respect
him. (Female participant).
The RVRs show that a speaker needs to reconsider a series of factors that may have an influence on his/her assumption
of responsibility, and therefore emphasize his/her innocence by not feeling the need to apologize. Dorneyi (2009)
believed that L2 learners are engaged in an ongoing appraisal and response process, involving their continuous
monitoring, evaluating how well they are doing in a task, and then making possible amendments if something seems to
be going amiss. According to Beeman (2001), affectivity is a communicative dimension in language that is by nature
systemic. Sincerity is the assessment by addressees in that the expressions are true representations of their feelings and
emotional state. For Iranians, power and status relations between addressers and addressees are of paramount
importance, as are settings in which emotional display of language takes place. To be more explicit, a person in order to
present the self, will definitely chose the language in a particular situation. Individuals have their own beliefs and
principles regarding language and the way they would like to identify themselves; their linguistic choices clearly affect
learners’ comprehension of pragmatic meaning. Positive face is a person’s desire to be approved of by selected others
whereas negative face relates to the desire to act according to one’s will despite their disapproval of one’s chosen course
of action. Evidently, in all social interactions every individual cultivates a sense of self-identity that is expressed
through the language he/she chooses to use. This identity is largely dynamic in that, it constantly changes according to
the interlocutor (s), the social situation and the context. Identity is not simply given but built up through symbolic
interactions and the use of language is entailed in the process of identity construction. The learning and use of a
language other than the L1 is bound to have an impact on the person as a whole. Accepting or rejecting the L2 norms
and patterns of social interaction need conscious acts by the language learner and the selection of the appropriate form
and strategies that are likely to be constrained by L1cultural communicational patterns.
5. Conclusion and Implications
In sum, the verbal reports showed how learners create and test different hypotheses about the nature of the target
pragmatic structure. Overall findings indicated that students’ evaluation of the situational variations helped in their
assessment of the speech act situations and in their ability to make adjustments in accordance with the contextual
variables of social power, social distance and degree of imposition/severity of offence. Qualitative analyses showed the
strong interaction of learner subjectivity with the learner variables of language proficiency, gender and age relating to
learners’ sociopragmatic knowledge and ways in which such assessment mediated pragmalinguistic choices. The RVRs
identified occasions where learners intentionally either accommodated to or resisted perceived L2 pragmatic norms, and
probed how they arrived at those decisions. While the participants largely converged toward L2 norms to emulate the
target language pragmatic norms, occasionally intentional divergence from L2 norms was evident in their resistance to
pragmatic uses of salutations and higher-level honorifics. They may sometimes feel inhibited in adopting certain TL
norms that are foreign to their own cultural behavior patterns and may refrain from performing according to patterns
they are taught. Their agency can be accounted for in terms of speech accommodation theory (Beebe & Giles, 1984)
which views pragmatic decisions as an enactment of social, psychological, and affective dispositions.
 Whatever I say, an English person will look at me as an Iranian. I like English and I like Persian. Persian is
my mother tongue. No, I cannot and I will never say ‘Dear’ to a male lecturer.
IJALEL 5(5):252-263, 2016 262
From the RVRs, it can be understood that the task of learning English is much more than learning a set of grammatical
rules and lexical items for those speakers of Persian whose general communicative behavior is governed by Persian
schemas (Sharifian, 2013). Psychological and socio-cultural notions of what is polite and appropriate differ widely
among languages and strategies for pragmatic behavior are closely tied to self-identity and social identity. O’Shea
(2000) believed that, “All Iranians measure themselves to a great extent by the honor they accumulate through their
actions and social interrelations” (p. 101). Context is a reflection of one’s cognitive state because it contains all the facts
that one is aware of or is capable of becoming aware of, however, once learners have a good understanding of certain
L2 pragmatic norms, it should remain their prerogative to decide whether to emulate or resist them (Ishihara, 2008).
RVRs can help the EFL teacher to move away from a focus on language forms alone to a focus on pragmatics, i.e. how
language is used to do things in social contexts. Through determining the source of a particular speech act behavior,
understanding these values and attitudes are essential to ensure that learners can interpret interactions as intended by
their interlocutor and communicate their message exactly as they wish in the L2.
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International Journal of

Applied Linguistics &

ISSN 2200-3592 (Print)

Pioneering in Language & Literature Discovery

2012 – 2016 © IJALEL

Senior Associate Editors

Book Reviews Editor

Women Empowerment in the Realms of Institutionalized Religion and Patriarchy: El

Larisa Aleksejevna Mishina, Natalia Konstantinovna Shutaya, Elena Yurievna 153-157

Women Empowerment in the Realms of Institutionalized

Received: 08-03-2016 Accepted: 20-05-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

The Effect of Three Kinds of Reading Strategies on EFL

Laleh Khojasteh (Corresponding author)

Received: 02-03-2016 Accepted: 28-05-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

Control 50 12.83 1.68 -619 .112

Experiment 50 13.06 2.01

Table 2. T-test for mean differences after treatment (post-test)

Female 27 12.300 1.2076 .2415 3.615

Philanthropic Discourse vs Promotional Genre:

Received: 09-03-2016 Accepted: 30-05-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

Table 1. Summary of Similarities and Differences in Advertising and Philanthropic Discourse

Table 2. Full Analysis of an Appeal Letter from UNICEF – Sample Text 1

Seg. 15 She knows her brother's letter by  Little else to read

Seg. 23 In fact, with the enclosed ENCLOSING  Enclosed donor's form

4. Findings and Discussion

Developing Students’ EFL Writing Skills by Enhancing their

Received: 17-03-2016 Accepted: 01-06-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

4.4 Data collection and analysis

Evidentiality, Epistemic Modality, and Epistemic Status

Guzel Abelkhasanovna Sadrieva

Adelina Renatovna Safina

Inga Gennadyevna Almikaeva

Alsu Flerovna Galimullina

Received: 23-03-2016 Accepted: 02-06-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

The Taxonomy of the Functional and Structural Uses

Received: 25-03-2016 Accepted: 03-06-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

Source: Primary data

Source: Primary data

Figure 2.The repetition of the types of adverbs

Source: Primary data

Source: Primary Data

Table 2. Type of adverb deviations

Ideologies in Mandela’s No Easy Walk to Freedom

Shamala Paramasivam (Corresponding author)

Received: 28-03-2016 Accepted: 07-06-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

Critical Discourse Analysis

Ideological Political Strategies Discursive Strategies of Positive Self-

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework of the Study

Table 2. Ideologies and Strategies in Mandela's No Easy Walk to Freedom

Table 1. Ideological Themes in Mandela's No Easy Walk To Freedom

Defiance Lexical Repetition

Oppression Lexical Repetition

Supremacy Lexical Repetition

Received: 02-04-2016 Accepted: 10-06-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

The Narrative Structure and Rhetorical Elements in

Nur Salina Ismail

Badri Najib Zubir

Received: 01-04-2016 Accepted: 13-06-2016 Advance Access Published: July 2016

The narrative structure discussed above is summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of the Chronological Structure of the Narrative

The fleeing A brief narrative The A Their The scene The

3. The Rhetorical (Balaghah) Strategies in the Narrative

A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Ideational Grammatical

Informational .559 .512