An Ideological Perspective on Competing Languages and Identities: The Case of Arabic and English in Saudi Arabia (Published)
The spread of English is being promoted as an important driver of social and economic development (Pennycook, 2009, p.116). However, this view can be “misguided”, as English can also be problematic, a source of inequality, and a “formidable obstacle to education” (Tollefson, 2000, p. 9). In this sense, the spread of English is seen as a form of the “linguistic imperialism” in which English enjoys an ideologically higher status over other languages, thus encouraging new forms of capitalism and endorsing the practice of homogeneity (Phillipson, 1999, p.274). In the same vein, it is argued that “language ideology represents statements of identity” (Cummins, 2000, p.xi). With regard to the context of Saudi Arabia, it is argued that if English can be a threat to the Arabic language, then it can also be a threat to the Arabic and Muslims identity (Elyas, 2008a, b), which may not be the true reflection of the Islamic view on learning other languages (Elays and Picard, 2010). Therefore, this article aims to evaluate the linguistic situation in Saudi Arabia in response to the spread of English and the tension this might have created with the Arabic Language to compete with English over gaining access to power and politics in different domains.
Keywords: Arabic, Identity, Media, Saudi Arabia, economy ideology
A Case Study of Translating English Qualitative Adjectives in Attributive Position into Arabic at Bisha University (Published)
This study has focused on the undergraduate Saudi learners at Bisha University. Our main concern of this paper is translation of qualitative adjective sentences from English into Arabic by Saudi learners. This study applied the quantitative research method for gathering data. This paper was undertaken with the intention of investigating how and to what extent can the learners in two colleges translate the qualitative adjective sentences in attributive position from English into Arabic. As we all know that translation plays an important role in conveying messages from one language to another. Therefore, students should be encouraged and motivated enough to learn and practice translation from the source language to the target language to increase their understanding in this field . The objective of this study was to find out the major problems and difficulties the students faced in their study of translation in the classroom in general and in their translation the qualitative adjective sentences from English language into their mother tongue language in particular. It was clear that tasks, activities, and practice of the learners were insufficient and they need more and more practice in translation the different types of English qualitative adjective sentences in attributive position . Data analysis in this study revealed that most of the students had major problems and difficulties in translating the qualitative adjective sentences in attributive position from English into Arabic because of their mother tongue interference and the two languages have grammatical and structural differences. However, many students have tried their best and done fairly well in translating some of the adjective sentences in the students’ translation test . It was possible to conclude that the classes of translation were largely teacher-centered and teacher dominated rather than student-centered . Besides, the learners should be given a lot of tasks and assignments to improve their level of translation .
Keywords: Arabic, Attributive Position, Bisha University, English Qualitative Adjectives, Mother Tongue Interference, Translation Studies
Which Preposition? An EFL Dilemma (Published)
EFL students face tremendous difficulties when translating from Arabic to English. One aspect of grammatical constructions that EFL students find difficult to translate is the translation of prepositions. This study aims at investigating the difficulties EFL students face when translating prepositions from Arabic into English. 105 students enrolled in undergraduate Translation courses in the English department, College of Basic Education were given a list of statements and short paragraphs and asked to translate them from Arabic into English. In addition, the students were asked to provide academic information to be statistically evaluated as independent variables. After data was collected and analyzed, it was found that students have considerable difficulty translating prepositions, some more than others.
Keywords: Arabic, EFL, English, Grammar, Prepositions, translation