This study investigates the comprehension of wh-questions among Jordanian Arabic-speaking childre... more This study investigates the comprehension of wh-questions among Jordanian Arabic-speaking children by comparing both (subject and object) “which” and “who” questions. The sample consisted of 45 Jordanian children: 15 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 15 with specific developmental language impairment (SDLI) and 15 typically developing (TD) children aged between 6 and 8 years. To achieve the objectives of this study, a binary task consisting of pictures with two-figure selection and pictures with three-figure selection was used. To analyze the data, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine the comprehension of wh-questions among the three groups. The findings revealed that the ASD and SDLI groups performed better in subject wh-questions compared to object wh-questions. Moreover, the study also found that “which” questions constituted a problem for both ASD and SDLI Jordanian children. In addition, earlier grammatical competence acquired by children with ASD and SDLI (...
The act of alternating between different languages within a single discourse is not an unusual pr... more The act of alternating between different languages within a single discourse is not an unusual practice among multilingual speakers, and this act is commonly known as code-switching. (Gafaranga, 2007; Holmes & Wilson, 2017). In general, code switching is not confined only within the boundaries of oral communication, but they are regularly practiced in written communication as well (Sridhar, 1996; Montes-Alcala, 2015), for instance in blog writing. Blogs are basically personal journals, more often than not, written in a personal and informal manner on various kind of topics, and they are publically accessible online (Herring et al., 2004; Schmidt, 2007). This study is interested in understanding the motivation or the reason as to why writers alternate between two languages (in this case between Malay and English) in written blogs. Accordingly, this study anchors its analysis on the theoretical framework of Rational Choice theory (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001). In this theory, langu...
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2020
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a developed writing module on enhancing the ... more This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a developed writing module on enhancing the General Foundation Program students’ writing skills. The study made use of a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design. The study participants incorporated 70 Omani students and 2 EFL teachers. The students were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group incorporated 35 students who studied English at the General Foundation Program of Sur Nursing Institute. The control group involved 35 students who took an English course at The General Foundation Program Centre in Muscat. Both institutions function under the auspices of the Omani Ministry of Health. The control group studied the ministry’s writing syllabus, whereas the experimental group studied the writing module. The writing pre-test was done before module delivery and the post-test was done after the intervention. ANCOVA test was utilized to draw a statistical analogy between the mean scores of tests ...
This study concerns Malay compounding. The aim is to have an in-depth description and analysis of... more This study concerns Malay compounding. The aim is to have an in-depth description and analysis of the topic which will create a more comprehensive and systematic understanding of the phenomenon in the language. Various features and issues in relation to compounding are identified and explored in order to achieve this aim. Given that Malay compounds and phrases are structurally similar, the question of whether compounding is a morphological or syntactical product is first entertained. Discussion on this issue favours the understanding that compounds can be distinct objects from those of structurally identical phrasal ones in Malay language. The focus is then given on the topics of definition, components, headedness, criteria and classification of compounds as the foundations of Malay compoundhood. It is agreed that Malay can have left, right and headless compounds, with the prototypical structures of [X Y] (X)(Y) for endocentric and [X Y] (Z) for exocentric compounds. It is also agre...
This study investigates the comprehension of wh-questions among Jordanian Arabic-speaking childre... more This study investigates the comprehension of wh-questions among Jordanian Arabic-speaking children by comparing both (subject and object) “which” and “who” questions. The sample consisted of 45 Jordanian children: 15 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 15 with specific developmental language impairment (SDLI) and 15 typically developing (TD) children aged between 6 and 8 years. To achieve the objectives of this study, a binary task consisting of pictures with two-figure selection and pictures with three-figure selection was used. To analyze the data, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine the comprehension of wh-questions among the three groups. The findings revealed that the ASD and SDLI groups performed better in subject wh-questions compared to object wh-questions. Moreover, the study also found that “which” questions constituted a problem for both ASD and SDLI Jordanian children. In addition, earlier grammatical competence acquired by children with ASD and SDLI (...
The act of alternating between different languages within a single discourse is not an unusual pr... more The act of alternating between different languages within a single discourse is not an unusual practice among multilingual speakers, and this act is commonly known as code-switching. (Gafaranga, 2007; Holmes & Wilson, 2017). In general, code switching is not confined only within the boundaries of oral communication, but they are regularly practiced in written communication as well (Sridhar, 1996; Montes-Alcala, 2015), for instance in blog writing. Blogs are basically personal journals, more often than not, written in a personal and informal manner on various kind of topics, and they are publically accessible online (Herring et al., 2004; Schmidt, 2007). This study is interested in understanding the motivation or the reason as to why writers alternate between two languages (in this case between Malay and English) in written blogs. Accordingly, this study anchors its analysis on the theoretical framework of Rational Choice theory (Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai, 2001). In this theory, langu...
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2020
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a developed writing module on enhancing the ... more This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a developed writing module on enhancing the General Foundation Program students’ writing skills. The study made use of a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design. The study participants incorporated 70 Omani students and 2 EFL teachers. The students were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group incorporated 35 students who studied English at the General Foundation Program of Sur Nursing Institute. The control group involved 35 students who took an English course at The General Foundation Program Centre in Muscat. Both institutions function under the auspices of the Omani Ministry of Health. The control group studied the ministry’s writing syllabus, whereas the experimental group studied the writing module. The writing pre-test was done before module delivery and the post-test was done after the intervention. ANCOVA test was utilized to draw a statistical analogy between the mean scores of tests ...
This study concerns Malay compounding. The aim is to have an in-depth description and analysis of... more This study concerns Malay compounding. The aim is to have an in-depth description and analysis of the topic which will create a more comprehensive and systematic understanding of the phenomenon in the language. Various features and issues in relation to compounding are identified and explored in order to achieve this aim. Given that Malay compounds and phrases are structurally similar, the question of whether compounding is a morphological or syntactical product is first entertained. Discussion on this issue favours the understanding that compounds can be distinct objects from those of structurally identical phrasal ones in Malay language. The focus is then given on the topics of definition, components, headedness, criteria and classification of compounds as the foundations of Malay compoundhood. It is agreed that Malay can have left, right and headless compounds, with the prototypical structures of [X Y] (X)(Y) for endocentric and [X Y] (Z) for exocentric compounds. It is also agre...
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