Led On Line
Presentazione - About us
Novita' - What's new
E-Journals
E-books
Lededizioni Home Page Ricerca - Search
Catalogo - Catalogue
Per contattarci - Contacts
Per gli Autori - For the Authors
Statistiche - Statistics
Cookie Policy
Privacy Policy

Web-Arabic as Lingua Franca (WALF): Variation and Standard in Teaching Arabic as Foreign Language (TAFL)

Cristina Solimando

Abstract


One of the most interesting issues in second language teaching is how students should be exposed to language variation using methods based on the analysis and comparison of authentic texts. In this respect, research regarding the teaching of Arabic is relatively lacking. Moreover, in recent years Arabic has been changing rapidly, strongly influenced by the social networks. The most evident result of this is the emergence of Web-Arabic, which can be regarded as a lingua franca in online communication. Although characterized by a prevalent use of Standard Arabic, it is also marked by recourse to colloquialisms and dialectal features. The present study illustrates how a group of Italian teachers of Arabic participating in teacher education courses were introduced to the teaching of language variation through the analysis of Web-Arabic as Lingua Franca (WALF). The most significant preliminary findings are that WALF can provide an innovative tool in the teaching of variation in Arabic and provide stimulating considerations for new strategies.


Keywords


TAFL (Teaching Arabic as Foreign Language); Web-Arabic; teaching practice; teachers’ education courses; lingua franca.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Androutsopoulos, Jannis and Evelyn Ziegler. 2004. “Exploring language variation on the Internet: Regional speech in a chat community”. In Language Variation in Europe. Edited by Britt-Louise Gunnarsson, Lena Bergstrom, Gerd Eklund, Staffan Fridell, Lise H. Hansen, Angela Karstadt, , Eva Sundgren, and Mats Thelander, 99–111. Uppsala: Uppsala University Press.

Androutsopoulos Jannis. 2006. “Introduction: Sociolinguistics and Computer-Mediated Communication”. In Journal of Sociolinguistics, 10 (4), 419-438. Available at https://jannisandroutsopoulos.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/jslx_10-4_intro.pdf.

Badawi, Al-Said Mohammad. 1973. Mustawayāt al-‘Arabiyya al-mu‘āṣira fī Miṣr. Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif.

Baym, Nancy. 1998. “The emergence of online community”. In Cybersociety 2.0: Revisiting Computer-Mediated Communication and Community, 35-68. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Bolitho, Rod, Ronald Carter, Rebecca Hughes, Roz Ivanič, Hitomi Masuhara, and Brian Tomlinson. 2003. “Ten questions about language awareness”. In ELT Journal, 57 (3): 251-259. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/57.3.251.

Castells, Manuel. 2000. The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell.

Crystal, David. 2001. Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Danet, Brenda. 2001. Cyberpl@y: Communicating Online. New York: Berg.

Ferguson, Charles. 1959. “Diglossia”. In Word, 15 (2): 325-340. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1959.11659702

Firth, Alan. 19967. “The discoursive accomplishment of normality. On ‘lingua franca’ English and Conversation Analysis”. In Journal of Pragmatics, 26, 237-259. Elsevier B.V.

Freeman, Donald. 1989. “Teacher Training, Development, and Decision Making: A Model of Teaching and Related Strategies for Language Teacher Education”. In TESOL Quarterly, 23 (1): 27-45. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3587506.

Gramkow Andersen, Karsten. 1993. Lingua franca discourse: An investigation of the use of English in an international business context. MA Thesis. Denmark: Aalborg University.

Hary, Benjamin. 1996. “The importance of the language continuum in Arabic Multiglossia. In Understanding Arabic: Essays in Contemporary Linguistics in honour of El-Said Badawi, edited by Alaa Elgibali, 69-90. Cairo: American University in Cairo (AUC).

Joanassen, David. (2000). Computers as mind tools for schools: engaging critical thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Kachru, Braj. 1997. “Word Englishes and English-using communities”. In Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,17: 66-90. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500003287.

Lopriore, Lucilla. 2016. “ELF in Teacher Education. A Way and Ways”. In International Communication. New perspectives from ELF, edited by Lucilla Lopriore and Enrico Grazzi, 167-188. Available at http://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/ita/images/allegati/1-12-2016.pdf.

Mejdell, Gunvor. 2012. “Diglossia, Code Switching, Style Variation and Congruence-Notions for analyzing Mixed Arabic”. In Al-ʿArabiyya, 44-45, 29-39. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Mitchell, Terry F. 1986. “What is Educated Spoken Arabic”. In International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 61: 7-32. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.1986.61.7.

Sifakis, Nicos. 2007. “The education of teachers of English as a lingua franca: a transformative perspective. In International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17 (3): 355-375. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2007.00174.x

Ryding, Karin C. 1990. Formal Spoken Arabic: Basic Course. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Ryding, Karin C. 1991. “Proficiency Despite Diglossia: A New Approach for Arabic”. The Modern Language Journal, 75: 212-218. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1991.tb05352.x.

Santipolo, Matteo. 2017. “Bespoke Language Teaching (BLT): a Proposal for a Theoretical Framework. The case of EFL/ELF for Italians. In Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 7 (2): 233-249. Doi: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.2.4.

Yaghan, Mohammad Ali. 2008. “Arabizi: A Contemporary Style of Arabic Slang”. In Design Issues, 24 (2): 39-52. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/desi.2008.24.2.39.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7358/ling-2018-002-soli

Copyright (©) 2019 cristina solimando – Editorial format and Graphical layout: copyright (©) LED Edizioni Universitarie



 


Linguæ & - Rivista di lingue e culture moderne
Registered by Tribunale di Milano (06/04/2012 n. 185)
Online ISSN 1724-8698 - Print ISSN 2281-8952


Dipartimento di Scienze della Comunicazione, Studi Umanistici e Internazionali: Storia, Culture, Lingue, Letterature, Arti, Media
Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo


Editor-in-Chief: Roberta Mullini
Editorial Board: Maurizio Ascari - Stefano Beretta - Antonio Bertacca- Tania Collani - Chiara Elefante - Marina Guglielmi - Maryline Heck - Richard Hillman - Reinhard Johler - Stephen Knight - Cesare Mascitelli - Sonia Massai - Aurélie Moioli - Maria de Fátima Silva - Bart Van Den Bossche 

Editorial Staff: Margaret Amatulli - Alessandra Calanchi - Riccardo Donati - Ivo Klaver  - Massimiliano Morini - Antonella Negri - Luca Renzi


Referee List


© 2001 LED Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto