International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies

12-21

Authors: Farida Lebbal, Algeria

Over the past few years, important strides have been made toward recognizing the development of pragmatic competence as a less peripheral component of foreign Language proficiency. Current research questions have extended beyond the confines of how important is integrating pragmatics in Language syllabi to addressing issues like what strategies, techniques and kind(s) of instruction should be implemented for a more sustained pragmatic competence. The contribution of the present paper is threefold; First, revisiting the different Pragmatics developmental models that proved thriving and productive in other-than-Algerian- Foreign Language contexts. Second, reviewing third year students’ (Department of English and Literature, University of Batna, Algeria) perception of the place the pragmatic objective holds in their oral and written courses syllabi and, finally, making a case for a more pragmatics-oriented language teaching at the university level, not only by an explicit instructed learning but by situating pragmatics at the heart of Foreign Language Teaching.

34-51

Authors: Priya. S, India

Many universities have introduced Humanities subjects into the engineering streams in tune with trends practiced globally. Engineers need to inculcate the spirit of humanities to acquire team spirit, critical thinking abilities and also problem-solving abilities for career advancement. Language skills empower engineers to face future challenges globally. In India also, Communicative English and Business English/ Professional English have been integrated into the Humanities stream of undergraduate programs in all Engineering colleges. Under this background, this empirical study examines the problems related to syllabus designed in the existing curricula of English language through questionnaire survey which was administered to 770 students of 20 engineering colleges. Ten items questionnaire objectively aimed to analyze three different aspects of the course designed for engineers. Firstly, to find out how the implementation of the syllabus matches the language learning needs of the students of the digital age. Secondly, to examine the teaching methodologies of four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing and finally to investigate how far the students preferred lab classes to theory classes. On the basis of the responses elicited, the aspects related to their immediate need of a learner centered curriculum are represented through graphical data for better interpretation. The research, thus, aimed at throwing light on the strengths and weaknesses of the existing system and the need to envisage a paradigm shift for preparing global engineers in the context of fast emerging situations around the world.

66-75

Authors: Somnath B. Barure, India

Influence and Borrowing are still seen with suspicion in the literary circles in India and abroad. In fact, both these tools have proved their inevitability in the creation and study of literary works and other arts in the present time. There are innumerable examples of unparallel creations resulted as an effect of influence of some other art or based on some borrowed idea. Mahesh Elkunchwar’s Old Stone Mansion (Wada Chirebandi) is claimed to have been based on borrowed ideas by critics. Even after this criticism, this play claims its share for raising certain questions and provoking discussions on various issues from all angles in the Indian society. It exposes the truth behind the stone walls of feudal mansions in the rural parts of India. The play is not just a story of one such feudal lord in the name of Deshpande, but attempts to bring into focus the changed socio-economic condition of Indian society in the post-colonial period. It locates the lasting battle in-between the ages long cultural values and harsh global realities in the present time, with fall of the former. This paper attempts to investigate the end of an ethos with the end of feudalism in India. The reasons for the fall have been discussed with ample evidences from the play itself, so as to support the statement of research. Fall of the mansion is evident in course of time, but fall of values and of the innocents is pathetic, forms the basis of the research problem. Paper also sheds light on the day-to-day changes seen in Indian ethos and marks its evident transformation in the play.

92-98

Authors: Faheem Akbar, Pakistan

Teaching foreign language is a challenging task; in language learning, speaking skill is considered a core productive part of learning. With this in mind, this article investigates how speaking can be made articulate and smooth. Furthermore, this article also determines the relationship between reading and speaking proficiency and extent to which teachers-led reading can affect students’ speaking performance. It is a known fact that lack of vocabulary makes learners stumbling and hesitant in speaking, because words precede communication ahead. In language learning hesitations/weakness in speaking can be overcome by encouraging learners to read a specific text. If teachers engage their students in worthwhile activities, such as providing appropriate and interesting reading texts in order to enable them to communicate what they have read. This article aims to reveal how reading gears speaking and reduces time in learning foreign language.

14-22

Authors: B. A. Essam & Esra'a Mustafa, Egypt

This study tackles the challenges of translating poem composed in colloquial Egyptian Arabic (CEA) into English. It applies Halliday’s concept of register on a CEA poem and its translation to determine the different varieties used in the original and how far they are maintained in the translation. It pays a special attention to the usage of metaphors and its relation to the register, highlighting the translation challenge of rendering culture-specific and register-specific metaphors into English. It is evident that both the register and the metaphors carry an essential weight of both the semantic and effective meaning, which is lost to a great extent in the translation. The paper applies a case study on at Al- Gakh's panoramic poem "The Call": a longitudinal section of the recent three years in the Egyptian society and a précis of the events of the Egyptian revolutionary path. The results reveal that there is a significant correlation between the register and the used metaphors. While the register is almost completely lost in the translation; some of the related metaphors are successfully and faithfully rendered into English. This compensates somehow for the lost effective meaning of the register. Notwithstanding, metaphors which are highly related to the register of colloquial Arabic varieties lose their effective meaning in the translation too. Keeping the tenor and the field is proved not to be enough to communicate the effective and the semantic original meaning.

35-53

Authors: Veronico Nogales Tarrayo, Philippines

Although metadiscourse has been examined in different genres, such as academic papers, newspaper editorials, school textbooks, and the like, still relatively little attention has been given to the discourse of cyber-genres, particularly blogs or weblogs. Using Hyland’s (2005) model, this paper examined the interactive and the interactional metadiscourse in Philippine investigative journalism blogs where English is used as a second language or L2. The corpus analyzed was taken from 20 investigative journalism blogs published in http://pcij.org/blog/, the official website of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) blogs. Based on the findings of the study, it can be inferred that there is much evidence in the use of metadiscourse in Philippine investigative journalism blogs; thus, the use of metadiscourse as an appropriate linguistic resource is supplemental and essential. The data revealed that the investigative journalism blogs have a higher frequency of use of interactive resources, allowing writers to organize and structure their propositions so that the text becomes more coherent to the readers. Among the five categories of interactive resources, the use of evidentials has the highest frequency. As regards the use of interactional resources, hedges are the most frequent. The findings of the study likewise provide pedagogical implications for ESL writing.

63-76

Authors: M. Subha, and Dr. T. Jayasudha, India

The Indian literary scenario, after 1980, is typically postmodern in all walks of life as it has been with the rest of the world. There are a number of rationales that have gone into the making of it. And its outcome has also been multi-directional. In India, more than post world war circumstances, postcolonial pressures have played a crucial and unique role. It is a fact that a genre called Indian Writing in English is unlimitedly and enormously flourished and continues to do so only during this period i.e. after 1980 to 2010. Under this background, this paper documents Postmodern Indian English Novel highlighting its past, and other aspects like Translated (regional vernacular) Novels into English, and the contemporary books on criticism.

85-95

Authors: J. Karthikeyan & V. Radhakrishnan, India

A short history of the life of Richard Eberhart becomes essential for us to understand the magnetic personality of a poet who believed in his younger generation. The secret of his continued popularity rests on his unique strong individuality, romantic mould, spasmodic vigour, his social commitment, simplicity of expression and a deep concern for mankind. The present study is a modest attempt in this direction and proposes to examine the predominant features of Richard Eberhart’s poetry.

106-112

Authors: Boukhatem Nadera, Algeria

Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by more than 330 million people as a native language, in an area extending from the Arabian/Persian Gulf in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West. Moreover, it is the language in which 1.4 billion Muslims around the world perform their daily prayers. Over the last few years, Arabic natural language processing (ANLP) has gained increasing importance, and several state of the art systems have been developed for a wide range of applications.

128-138

Authors: Soumyajyoti Banerjee & Dr. Amrita Basu, India

This paper discusses the concepts of Myth and Nation in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel Queen of Dreams. Against a narrative backdrop of immigrant community life in America (Indian family moving to the West and settling there) this paper analyses the roles these concepts play in the life of the immigrants. It also focuses on the relation between these two ideas. We shall see how the perception of second or third generation immigrants in America (or any other Western country) regarding their nation (their native land) is based on formulation of myths. The paradigmatic concerns they face and manipulate while trying to understand their nation are also analysed. The paper also portrays the articulation of an existential flux which such individuals or communities feel from a ceaseless struggle between Western value-systems and their traditional Eastern ethics. We shall see how in trying to understand the nation the immigrant community eventually resorts to an Orientalist discursive practice; that of defining the East which is readily available for their interpretation. We shall also witness how when they are faced with a crisis of identity, myths can break down revealing the true nature in which a nation works.