This article investigates assessment in Russian as a type of social action by using the approach to linguistic relativity where the diversity of lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of natural languages brings about... more
This article investigates assessment in Russian as a type of social action by using the approach to linguistic relativity where the diversity of lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of natural languages brings about different collateral effects to the social act of assessment. An analysis of selected samples of a Russian spoken corpus presented in this paper shows that specific lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of Russian, such as flexible word order and particles (e.g. da, nu, vot, to), have specific collateral effects. In addition to building agreement in assessment, these lexicosyntactic resources (i) create the context of closeness where more can be said with less overtly expressed linguistic means, and (ii) intensify the social act of assessment by making it more emotionally charged.
Research Interests:
This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-based accounts of case in SA are problematic, as they face problems accounting for case assignment in complex event nominals. Using Baker’s... more
This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-based accounts of case in SA are problematic, as they face problems accounting for case assignment in complex event nominals. Using Baker’s (2015) dependent case theory, we argue that there are two modalities of structural case assignment in SA, i.e., the dependent case and the Agree-based case, and that the latter is only available when the former fails to apply. It is also argued that case assignment takes place at Spell Out, the point where phase heads are merged into the structure. We provide evidence that vP in SA is a soft phase and we claim that v in SA is incapable of assigning the accusative case to the object, due to v’s deficiency. We also claim that a DP of the complex nominal type in SA is a hard phase. SA PRO is argued to lack a case feature, and it is therefore neither a proper goal for case in the Agree-based case mechanism, nor is it a proper case trigger/competitor in the ...
Research Interests:
The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in... more
The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS offered as a demonstration module for the general public. Specifically, the analysis presented in this article focuses on how language structure is integrated into the task. The integration of language structure into the task is assessed against the criteria outlined in the Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning (TBLT) literature and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLBs) guidelines. The analysis of the task demonstrates that the presentation of language structure in the task violates the main principle of a meaning-based approach to second language teaching (i.e., task-based instruction) that emphasizes the primacy of meaning over lan...
This study tests the interface hypothesis by investigating how advanced Arab learners of English develop the grammatical knowledge of English indirect questions. Ten advanced Arab learners of English and four native speakers of English... more
This study tests the interface hypothesis by investigating how advanced Arab learners of English develop the grammatical knowledge of English indirect questions. Ten advanced Arab learners of English and four native speakers of English are tested on a written grammaticality judgment task and an oral production task. Three hypotheses are tested: (1) the grammatical knowledge of advanced Arab learners of English indirect questions is different from that of native speakers of English, (2) advanced Arab learners of English do not have problems acquiring indirect questions, where the matrix clause is a non-interrogative clause and the embedded clause is an interrogative clause, (3) advanced Arab learners of English have problems acquiring indirect questions, where both the matrix clause and the embedded clause are interrogative. The results of the study confirm the first and third hypotheses but disconfirm the second hypothesis. The results of the study provide counter evidence to the interface hypothesis, as even linguistic properties that do not involve interface between syntax and discourse/pragmatics seem to be persistently problematic at the advanced level of L2 proficiency.
Research Interests:
Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a)
This article examines the arguments made in the article “Determiners, Feline
The present study tests Pereltsvaig’s Lexical Hypothesis [2005, 2008] by investigating the interaction between the features of grammatical aspect (±perf(ectivity)) and those of lexical aspect (±telic(ity)) in the varieties of Russian... more
The present study tests Pereltsvaig’s Lexical Hypothesis [2005, 2008] by investigating the interaction between the features of grammatical aspect (±perf(ectivity)) and those of lexical aspect (±telic(ity)) in the varieties of Russian spoken among three generations of heritage speakers of Russian (HSR) in the Greater Toronto Area. Two hypotheses are tested: (a) the variety of Russian as spoken by the first generation of HSR is not different from that of Contemporary Standard Russian (CSR); particularly, the constellations [+perf, +telic] and [-perf, -telic] are a tendency rather than a rule, (b) the Russian spoken by the second and third generations of HSR is distinct from CSR in that the constellations [+perf, +telic] and [-perf, -telic] are a rule rather than a tendency. The results of the study generally though not categorically lend support to the Lexical Hypothesis.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article reports on the results of action research conducted in a university ESP classroom in Oman. The impetus for this research was the practitioner’s dissatisfaction with the current practice of introducing the grammatical concept... more
This article reports on the results of action research conducted in a university ESP classroom in Oman. The impetus for this research was the practitioner’s dissatisfaction with the current practice of introducing the grammatical concept of the English passive and its subsequent results. Framed within the sociocultural theory of cognitive development, this paper investigates the effectiveness of concept-based instruction (CBI). As a pedagogical approach, CBI targets a learner’s internalization of the concept of a language constituent that assists the learner with the meaning making abilities of sentences where the English passive is used. Twenty-two university students enrolled in an ESP course participated in the study. The data was collected through the teacher’s observations, students’ artifacts, and students’ feedback on the effectiveness of CBI. Data analysis reveals the effectiveness of CBI in heightening learner awareness of the concept of a language constituent, developing l...
Research Interests:
This article describes the results of Action Research conducted in an ESP classroom of Dhofar University located in Oman. Following the call of Oman Vision 2040 to emphasize educational practices that promote the development of... more
This article describes the results of Action Research conducted in an ESP classroom of Dhofar University located in Oman. Following the call of Oman Vision 2040 to emphasize educational practices that promote the development of higher-order cognitive processes, this study raises the following question: Can an online multiple choice question (MCQ) quiz tap into the higher-order cognitive skills of apply, analyze and evaluate? This question was also critical at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when Omani universities switched to the online learning mode. The researchers administered an online MCQ quiz to 35 undergraduate students enrolled in an ESP course for Engineering and Sciences. The results showed that MCQ quizzes could be developed to tap into higher-order thinking skills when the stem of the MSQ is developed as a task or a scenario. The study also revealed that students performed better on MCQs that tap into low-level cognitive skills. This result can be attributed to the pre...
Research Interests:
This paper focuses on the autobiographical narratives of three translingual writers, Nabokov, Brodsky and Makine. Their narratives are analyzed by taking into account Vygotsky’s ideas on the relationship between language and thought... more
This paper focuses on the autobiographical narratives of three translingual writers, Nabokov, Brodsky and Makine. Their narratives are analyzed by taking into account Vygotsky’s ideas on the relationship between language and thought (1987), Bruner’s ideas on storytelling (1986, 2002) and Swain’s concept of languaging as a meaning-making process through language (Swain, 2006). The paper investigates the question of the role of language in making sense of writers’ lives as displaced people. In order to answer this question, we analyzed the autobiographical narratives for languaging episodes that are defined as autobiographical excerpts where the writers attempt to make sense of their lives as displaced people. The following major themes have been identified as the result of the analysis: construction of the lost world out of new experiences, discovery of the meaning of existence, reconciliation through cultural and linguistic hybridity. We believe that the implication of the study is ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The study focuses on the strategies English as a foreign language (EFL) learners choose to take on in requests without evaluating them against the norm of a native speaker, as the concept of native speaker is ideologically problematic in... more
The study focuses on the strategies English as a foreign language (EFL) learners choose to take on in requests without evaluating them against the norm of a native speaker, as the concept of native speaker is ideologically problematic in the time of super-diversity. The study uses cultural scripts proposed in the field of cross-cultural pragmatics to interpret the strategies of EFL learners in making requests. Seventy-six requests were elicited from twenty-six undergraduate Omani EFL learners through Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs). The results obtained from the DCTs were supported by the results of the focus discussion group and our personal observations as faculty members and students’ advisors. The study shows that contrary to the claims made in most of the literature on requests in interlanguage pragmatics, EFL learners use indirect strategies. In addition, they use address terms and provide reasons for their requests. These strategies are shaped by cultural scripts that prior...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this paper, we discuss two types of discourse: the first one—the discourse of cognitive impairment of a long-term care facility (LTCF) reflected in the institution’s language policy and in the language use of several caregivers of the... more
In this paper, we discuss two types of discourse: the first one—the discourse of cognitive impairment of a long-term care facility (LTCF) reflected in the institution’s language policy and in the language use of several caregivers of the LTCF; and the second one, the discourse of ‘small’ stories (Bamberg and Georgakopoulou 2008) told by Alise, a resident of the LTCF. We investigate how the participant of the study, Alise, an older adult suffering from multiple sclerosis and experiencing memory loss, positioned herself depending on which discourse was being used, and through a series of small stories indexed her re-emerging identity as a capable communicator. By approaching narrative as a type of social practice rather than a text and expanding it with sociocultural views on language, we analyze selected excerpts between the researcher and the participant across 12 data collection sessions in order to demonstrate how the participant’s changes in identity (and memory) were reflected in and facilitated by Alise’s small stories. In addition, we investigate why the series of small stories told by Alise facilitated her full engagement, in contrast to the discourse of cognitive impairment imposed upon her by the institution. We also demonstrate that Alise’s small stories, which were used as a site for identity construction, helped this socially disengaged resident of the LTCF to reposition herself as an active, capable and valid participant in communication, thus positively affecting her sense of self-esteem and well-being. Finally, we emphasize the implications of our research for the professionals, volunteers and family members involved in caring for older people with dementia. Specifically, we emphasize the importance of recognizing a ‘small story’ in particular, and languaging in general, as a mediator of positive change. This recognition, in our view, is essential in making meaningful the lives of people experiencing memory loss and in improving their quality of life.