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The purpose of this study is to determine whether the markedness phenomenon of Do-support as a specific-language property poses greater difficulties for adult Arabic-speaking learners thereby bringing about more L1 transfer than the auxiliary verbs BE and HAVE. Do-support in the inter-language of adult native-Arabic speakers learning English was insufficiently addressed despite the complexity and that Arabic lacks do-support in negation and inversion. This study was conducted to address this gap within the theoretical framework of Differential Markedness Hypothesis (DMH). A sample of 100 Jordanian students attending Mutah University participated in the study where data was collected using a Multiple-Choice Task (MCT), and a Written Production Task (WPT), involving semi-structured interviews with 30 students from the student sample. The study used descriptive and inferential statistics to analyse the data where the findings showed a committed relationship between the auxiliary type and degree of difficulty that learners in both groups experienced with DO, BE and HAVE. Notably, Do-support poses greater difficulty compared to BE and HAVE where its usage is problematic particularly for beginners, resulting in more incidences of the Arabic influence. The data from the interviews support the results of the two tasks: learners find L2 marked features more difficult than L2 features, which are universal and genuinely part of the syntactic structure. The findings in this study will contribute towards a better understanding of how to develop an improved teaching process to more effective on the markedness and difficulty of Do-support compared to BE and HAVE. Keywords: Arabic L1 influence; auxiliary verbs; do-support; Differential Markedness Hypothesis

This paper is an attempt to develop a new mechanism for semasiologically identifying conceptual metaphors in a particular discourse (SCAICM). Based on Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphor theory (CMT)’ and aided with corpus tools, the proposed method complements previously suggested mechanisms by Jaekel (1995, 1997, 2002), Steen (1999, 2007, 2010), Deignan (1999, 2008) and Stefanowitsch (2006). This mechanism attempts to suggest solutions to methodological problems associated with the previous mechanisms, such as the starting point, overlooking instances of potential metaphors, neglecting stretches of words, and covering larger corpora. The proposed method is assumed to account for all and every instance of potential conceptual metaphor in corpora under investigation and it combines qualitative with quantitative analysis interchangeably. The method is implemented to ongoing PhD research addressing conceptual metaphors in selected English translations of the Noble Qur’an (ETNQs).

Translated Texts of the Qur’an (especially in English) have the benefit of being a major access source into the meanings of the Noble Qur’an especially for non-Arabic speakers. The focus of surveys and other studies conducted on this genre used to address issues related to the translators’ method, style, strategies and techniques aiming at evaluating and assessing the translation process itself (see for example Kidwai, 1987 , Khan 1997, Abdul-Raof, 2001 , Khalil 2005, to name but a few). Despite their crucial role in shaping human perception, cognitive meanings - resulted in the process of translating the Noble Qur’an - were not given enough attention. This study is devoted to investigating the construal of ‘Soul-Person’ dualism in three English Translated Texts of the Noble Qur’an (ETTQs); Pickthall (1930), Ali (1982) and the Reformists group (2007/2010). Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory ( Lakoff and Johnson, 1980 ), with the support of Corpus Linguistics, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative method is utilized to analyze the data. The study shows two major different conceptualizations for ‘soul-person’ dualism. One construal emphasizes on the dualism of the (material) physical part of a person with its abstract (immaterial) counterpart ‘soul’ as ‘SOUL IS A PERSON’ with 116 instances in Pickthall and 176 instances in Ali ETTQs. Neglecting its counterpart ‘soul’, the other construal of PERSON IS A PHYSICAL ENTITY puts more emphasis on the physical portion of the ‘soul-person’ dualism in all instances in the Reformist ETTQ.

This preliminary study investigates the acquisition of do-support in negation and interrogatives by adult Arab learners of English. The main question is to identify how Arabic language influences the acquisition of do-support. The influence of L2 proficiency level in the acquisition of do-support is also addressed. The study is conducted within the perspective of Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis and Differential Markedness Hypothesis. Do-support as a marked feature of English has received little or no attention in previous work on the acquisition of English as a second language by adult Arab learners. This study seeks to fill that gap by documenting the acquisition of do-support in negation and interrogatives. To address these aims, a written production task, a multiple-choice task and a semi-structured interview were administered to 10 adult Arab learners of low and advanced English proficiency levels. The findings indicate that the role of Arabic is noted. While not the source of errors, it acts as a strategy that adult Arab learners use to dealing with limited L2 knowledge and the markedness of do-support, which is the main source of difficulty shown by adult Arab learners. The role of learners’ L1 is selective according to the learners’ perception of what is difficult or not. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between L2 proficiency level and the mastery of do-support in that high- proficiency learners outperform low-proficiency learners. It is recommended that future research examine the acquisition and markedness of do-support in the interlanguage of Arabic-speaking children.

In the Malaysian education system, attention is highly paid on reading words. Visual images are often treated as “decoration”, or are dismissed altogether (Kress & Leeuwen, 1996). Many local researchers (Saedah 1990, Bahiyah et al., 2008) have only analysed written texts to see how social practices deemed negative such as gender biasness are reflected in the words (lexical items) and linguistic structures. Currently, no systematic research has been undertaken in Malaysia to analyse visual images in English language school textbooks to study how visual images can reflect gender biasness. This research project addresses gender biasness found in visual images in school textbooks, i.e., the treatment of one gender over the other especially of women and girls. The project adopts three widely used approaches for analyzing visual images; content, socio semiotic and ethno-methodology analyses. This paper will however highlight its preliminary analysis focusing on image analysis based on participation, gender and representational meanings. Its aim is to identify the types of images and the representation of gender biasness and stereotyping found in the textbook. The preliminary findings should expose the sexism and gender biasness in the visual images of a sampled textbook; i.e. an English school textbook that is abound with visual images that sometimes, more so than written texts, can articulate more forcefully social and cultural meanings.

This paper will thoroughly examine the notion of collocation and will analyse translations of English collocations into Arabic while detailing other related points. It will also incorporate a detailed explanation of the various types of collocations in English. A collocation is defined as a combination of two or more words that usually occur together in different language contexts. Although there have been many published literatures on collocation, there is limited examination of collocation in Iraq, and the specific problems faced by Iraqi EFL students translating English collocations into Arabic. This study examines the effect of mother tongue interference on the translation of English collocations into Arabic among Iraqi EFL students. The results reveal that 67% of the participants failed to achieve the pass mark, and only 33% achieved an acceptable level of understanding and translation. A detailed explanation of the results will be presented, as well as a conclusion and recommendation of this study.

The study attempts to assess the awareness of morphemic knowledge among Iraqi high schoollearners in the domain of English Foreign Language (EFL) context. Two tests were employed in this study namely, “Morphological Relatedness Test (MRT)” and “Morphological Structure Test (MST)” adopted and adapted from Curinga (2014). These two tests are essential and crucial instruments employed to measure the students’ morphemic knowledge for this research. The students’ ability was measured by the two tests to reflect and manipulate morphologically complex derived words in English. Twenty Iraqi high schoolstudents were involved to achieve the purpose of the study. The study analysis disclosed that the participants accomplished poorly in both tests of MRT and MST. The findings also revealed that there was no significant difference between the students’ performance on MRT and MST. They were unable to reflect and manipulate efficiently. However, the students’ performance on reflective aspect was a little higher than manipulative aspect. It is true that Iraqi students are suffering from the phenomenon of the morphemic knowledge. They indeed need to be aware of the importance of the morphemic knowledge because this knowledge can drive to construct new words and deconstruct the complex words in addition to the reading comprehension.

The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a study on the language proficiency levels and needs among postgraduate students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia to later develop a course suitable to the levels and needs of the students based on the findings. The study employed a self-report needs analysis questionnaire administered to newly enrolled 171 postgraduate international students. These students were largely from the middle-eastern countries aged between 22 to 45 years old from various disciplines. Data collected were analyzed quantitatively and findings were presented in the form of descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that majority of the students’ proficiency levels were below the entry level of the university’s requirement. Where else the results of needs analysis showed that the most crucial language skills needed by the students are listening and speaking. Based on the findings suggestions and recommendations are made to meet the needs of the international postgraduate students in the university.

This paper compares several types of verbs in English and Persian in terms of direction. The direction of verbs seems to be potentially problematic for the Iranian EFL learners. English verbs can be formed by affixation and compounding. Even proper names and names of animals and products can be used as simple verbs. Persian is poor in this respect, and most verbs are formed via a limited number of affixes or by the productive process of verb collocation. English verbs seem more flexible in switching to intransitive or transitive modes, while Persian requires morphological transformation. The use of prepositions with objects can pose problems for the Iranian EFL learners. In one language, the focus of the sentence is on the subject while in the other, emphasis is directed to the object. Adverbs and prepositional phrases can be inherently stored in the English verb, while Persian has to openly express them.

This paper discusses the significance of learning and teaching culture as an inseparable part of language and invites language teachers to integrate cultural points into the syllabus of language programs. A learner may have a good command of grammar and lexicon, but have difficulty in comprehending the message. Understanding why communication is possible for certain readers but not for others can partly lie in the cultural shades of the words and events. For some nationalities, gestures, names, numbers, and colors are suggestive of ill manners, while in others, they are welcome. This study justifies the importance of including culture in the language teaching programs because familiarity with the cultural features of the target language people can help the learners see the world with open eyes and modify their attitude toward other cultures. This can generally enhance their tolerance not only as a language learner but also as a human being.

Ezafe, as an indispensable phoneme of the Persian language, does not exist visually, but its presence is extremely effective. It is an enclitic usually realized by /-e / or /-ye/ and mostly suffixed to nouns. The presence of the Ezafe is a must when a noun is modified. Ezafe can show different relations like possession and addition. It assumes such roles as definite and indefinite articles, the verb “be”, and stands for certain English prepositions. The presence of the Ezafe in Persian can lead to fluency and correct comprehension. No transitive verbs followed by objects can do without the Ezafe enclitic. This paper classifies different phonological and syntactic uses of the Ezafe, discussing its application against the English syntactic positions of words. The paper exhibits the probability of committing mistakes by the Iranian English learners when the Ezafe enclitic is included in or excluded from their foreign language communication.

Learning a new language depends on so many factors such as learners, teachers, environment, purpose of learning or teaching, and more importantly textbooks. Textbooks are a key component in most language programs. For most teachers, textbooks provide the foundation for the content of lessons, the balance of the skills taught, as well as the kinds of language practice the students engage in during class activities. This paper aims to evaluate the authenticity of the Iranian English textbooks at high school level. It is based on Dougills’ textbook evaluation checklist. According to the feedback received from the teachers’ and the students’ responses, the home-made textbooks lack the authenticity of natural English in terms of content and presentation. They are short in the variety and attractiveness in the passages. The materials are not generally presented from the easy to hard order and they are mainly void of cultural and communicative points.