Journal of Language Studies

Abstract Comprehension is a real challenge that might affect EFL university students’ achievement in comprehending texts. Further, many students apply reading activities in the class with limited strategies such as reading silently, or following after the teacher, then attempting to answer questions of comprehension. It is important to equip students with several skills and strategies in reading comprehension and make the reading class an interesting place. Questioning the author's strategy has a good effect on the student’s reading comprehension achievement. The sample consists of (40) students who are randomly chosen from second-year/ Morning studies in English Department / Tikrit University for the academic year (2021-2022). Pre and post-tests have been applied. The data has been collected and treated statistically. The obtained results sound good.

Abstract Euphemism means a word or phrase that is used to safeguard the feelings of other people. However, this is not the only function of euphemism; nowadays people use it for persuasive, misleading, and/or deceptive intentions instead of being simply polite. The present paper addresses euphemism as a tool of doublespeak used in the famous defamation hearing between Jhonny Deep and Amber Heard; it took place in 2022 in Virginia, and the jury ruled that Depp had been defamed by Heard. It is hypothesized that Amber Heard, while she is cross-examined by Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez, tries to defend herself by the use of euphemism as a doublespeak function. In this paper Warren's model (1992) is adopted for analyzing the selected texts. The model categorizes euphemism formation, namely, semantic innovation, i.e., a novel sense for some established word or word combination is created.

Abstract

This study examines Alice Munro's short story "Queenie", and how the female characters cope with grief and solitude. The study come across that the female protagonist of the short narrative felt lonely and unhappy throughout. The Study finds out that other works ascribed to the same author have common narrative elements. The story structures show how the protagonist's emotions of loneliness lead to her ultimate satisfaction. This Paper employs a structuralist technique, focusing on Tzvetan Todorov's Narratology theory. The story's analysis reveals a continuous narrative structure in which the protagonist's emotions of loneliness are turned into the realisation of her ambitions and objectives. The answers of the author found to her own queries on loneliness highlight how widespread the feeling is and how many different factors might contribute to it. The characters' sense of alienation is supposed to drive them to make good life changes. Although the characters' sentiments of solitude take many forms, the reader nonetheless feels its pain via the author's words. Subtly, via the phrases she inserts into the narrative, she demonstrates that being alone may lead to happiness, if the heroes do not give up and are not afraid to take action to alter their lives..

Abstract The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is written within a narrative framework. It is told by twenty-nine pilgrims who are on their way to visit the shrine of Saint Tomas Becket. The host of the inn decides to go with them, and they tell tales along the way to entertain each other. Although the story is supposed to have twenty-four tales from thirty characters, religion and faith are the most dominant themes in the poem. Corruption of religious men is one of the most important themes in The Canterbury Tales. The characters are corrupted. They are very preoccupied with secular things. They have no time to spend on religious things. This paper aims at investigating the corruption and hypocrisy of characters in The Canterbury Tales. It argues that although some characters in The Canterbury Tales are religious men and women, in fact they are highly corrupted. To test the validity of this proposal, five tales are analyzed

Abstract Women's critique has focused on exposing the marginalization of women authors, suppression of the feminine voice, purposeful exclusion of females mostly from literary works, including stereotyping of females within male fiction as angels in heaven or mythical creatures or living creatures born only for kitchen area business in the first place from its inception. Scholars in feminist studies have also been looking into the documents of female authors since the early 1960s. Women's critique has shown that literary sexism can no longer be tolerated or justified. There are presently several great female poets whose poetry deserves to be recognized and appreciated by the general public. However, the female liberation movement sparked the publication of multiple separatist anthologies. It is indeed also behind the painfully shallow and odd attempt to establish those female poems are inherently different. Several commentators regard female poets as much more than poets; they are not just women, and yet simply women poets, saying by doing the same things that men poets have been saying and doing for far longer, as well as having the added opportunity to understand about women. The texts of the poems will be analyzed

Abstract

Researchers and language instructors have attempted to utilize the most influential teaching frameworks which are related to enhance language production and how they influence the learners’ outcome positively. The study aims at exploring two explicit teaching frameworks; Present – Practice – Produce (PPP) and Illustration – Interaction – Induction (III) on learning spoken discourse markers by Kurdish non-native speakers of English. The current research reports findings from an experimental design conducted at Knowledge University in Kurdistan Region which is a private university. 66 Kurdish EFL learners participated and they were on the Upper intermediate or B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference Ability Scale (CEFR). Two different experimental groups were taught the same categories of spoken discourse markers compared to a control group. One way ANOVA and post-hoc S-N-K test of post-test revealed statistically significant differences of PPP group compared to III and control groups in relation to the higher mean scores of the total spoken discourse markers used in the post-test. The qualitative findings showed that PPP group insisted on the usefulness of their method that helped them exhibit good performances in their speaking test. Moreover, participants from both PPP and III groups gave importance to practicing as a crucial aspect of learning the target language forms.

Abstract Rupi Kaur is a Canadian young poet that employed natural elements in her poems to reflect the genuine human experiences. She has recently made great fame on social media and her poetry collections have made a great impact on Canadian literature. Her poetry can be analyzed through the ecocritical lens. Kaur’s poetry is not abstruse, or metaphysically oriented rather it is easy, and simple and reflects the plight of women and her journey from stumbling, falling, breaking, rising, and finally blooming. This journey sounds more like a non-human experience that is natural for instance the cycle of life of flowers. Through mobilizing several vivid images she channels the metaphors to human life in the form of natural images regarding feeling, shaping, flourishing, and prospering. The ecocritical approach is applied in this paper to pinpoint this common tendency among humans and their counterparts from non-human entities. Moreover, it casts the light on Kaur’s descriptive force and skillfulness in forming settings fit to her perpetual slippage from certain natural asset to the other. The paper also musters certain images, metaphors and other poetic devices to show the ecocritical awareness among people with reference to this modern approach that studies the interconnectedness between nature and culture. Applying of the ecocritical approach to Rupi Kaur’s poetry may afford a feasible solution to the physical/transcendental dualism, whereas we observe the formulation of hybrid identity that results from the merging of nature and human attitudes. This study traces the five sections of the Volume “The Sun and Her Flowers” and attributes them to the development of Rupi Kaur the woman.

Abstract The paper is to introduce second Language acquisition (henceforth SLA) and second language learning in general and the factors have the impact on SLA as (Cognitive, Affective, and Social factors). It also lays very much emphasis on the role of personality and age, among different factors affecting SLA. In addition, it sheds light on the first language acquisition (hereafter FLA) and how distinct it is with SLA. The present paper aims at introducing the importance of the factors affecting SLA and how pivotal the role of learners’ personality and age is for guaranteeing the acquisition of a second language. There are some problems in the local gap that have not been referring to such as ignorance of teachers about personality types and learners’ age. Teachers may be unaware of personality types and haven’t enough information about developing personalities; for example, introvert and extrovert learners, which is better to acquire a second language. Besides, teachers are probably not taking the age of learners into consideration in teaching English as a foreign language. Students may also not know their exact age or level to acquire second Language.

Abstract

Jostein Gaarder (1952- ) is a Norwegian thinker and author of a great number of novels, short stories, and children's books among them Sophie's World. This novel deals with a number of issues, and uses a lot of postmodern techniques like meta-fiction. This paper is to explain the use of meta-fiction in the concerned novel to the readers as a postmodern element. Sophie's World, besides being a great philosophical one, it contains several meta-fictional elements like: the story has another story within, commenting on the story while telling it; the narrator exposes himself as both: a character and the narrator, and many more elements. The paper is divided into two sections and a conclusion. Section one deals theoretically with meta-fiction, self-reflexivity and inter-textuality as postmodern techniques. Section two is the analysis of the novel. At the end of the paper is the conclusion which will show the findings of the analysis. The paper end with the works cited.

Abstract

This research aims to solve a complex and persistent problem which is represented by the fear of our learner to produce orally in FLE class, namely: glossophobia and the blocking of the FLE learner in class. This is the reason why we are studying, as a solution, the impact of integrating playful activities in the teaching / learning of oral production in FLE class and aim, in this integration, to help our learner to feel confident in groups in FLE class and to unlock orally. So, first of all, we started with the definition of the word ʺplayful‶ to find out its exact meaning. Then, we indicated the types of playful activities in FLE class. Afterwards, we proposed ten essential criteria for the selection of playful activities in FLE class to make our learner speak in FLE class. In addition, we have written twenty important points of advantages and disadvantages of playful activities in FLE class. On the other hand, we have prepared a detailed questionnaire of twenty seven questions addressed to the learner. Finally, we have proposed recommendations as a solution favorable to the problem of blocking our learner orally. Finally, we put an exhaustive conclusion as a final point to this study.

Abstract Dictionaries have an impact on interpretation, as they are a tool for revealing the various aspects of interpretation in order to understand the significance of texts within the context. The aim of the research, in terms of its connection with the Qur’anic and lexical text, was to clarify the need for lexical meanings, and their multiplicity for use within the Qur’anic interpretation, in a manner that does not depart from what the applicants mentioned regarding the controls of ijtihad. , the first topic under the title: The pronunciation between the lexicon and the context, then the second topic in which I mentioned the applied aspect of the analysis of Quranic texts. Then a conclusion, and proven sources and references. The method used in the analysis was descriptive and analytical

Abstract The research studies color in the poetry of (Abdul Qadir Al-Hosni) by describing color as an element of the artistic elements of the poetic image, and it has taken from his poetic collections: (As if I see / and a collection that spreads its laundry) as evidence for our search for this poet.

Abstract Words that carry other than their meaning have a great impact in Arabic speech, and a very important judgment in determining what the speaker wants, or what he thinks of words that he may choose because of an incident, or to praise or vilify a person. It immediately comes to mind that the visible is a predatory animal, but when someone says: I saw a lion carrying in his hand the banner of victory, then here the meaning moves from the first position to the usage, and this usage is what gave the meaning of the predatory animal the connotation of the brave man, or the strong leader, as it has been likened to the strength of the lion The same is the case in this research, as there are expressions in Surat Al-Kahf that carry other than its meaning, so the Almighty’s saying: So We struck their ears, is not a well-known beating, that is: the adhesion of one thing to another as a result of the force imposed on it, so it is the barrier and the curtain that became over their ears at the time of their sleep, which was mentioned by Al-Bari Glory be to Him, and the situation is the same in the rest of the verses of the blessed Surah.

Abstract The study aimed to identify the effect of using the Bigs model on developing reading comprehension among second grade intermediate students in Literature and Texts The researcher put the following two zero hypotheses: 1- There are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05) between the average scores of the two experimental groups that studied according to the Beggs program and reading comprehension, and the average scores of the students of the control group that studied in the traditional way in the achievement of literature and texts for the second intermediate grade. 2- There is a statistically significant difference at the level of significance (0.05) between the average scores of the experimental group that studied using the Pages program and reading comprehension and the average scores of the students of the control group that studied in the traditional way in the subject of literature and texts for the second intermediate grade, as the following research included students preparatory stages; For day schools affiliated to the Directorate of Education of Salah al-Din / Department of Education of Tikrit (the center) for the academic year 2022-2023, where the researcher chose two schools located in the same residential block as a place for his experiment containing three divisions, and after the researcher visited the two schools, he chose Division (A) of Al-Tawhid Secondary School for Boys To represent the experimental group to be taught using the Beggs model and it consisted of 36 students and Division (B) from Al-Mazm Secondary School for Boys to represent the control group to be taught in the traditional way and consisted of 39 students. The preliminary form consists of 40 paragraphs, and in front of each paragraph there are four alternatives. And he extracted the virtual truthfulness by presenting it to a group of experts and specialists with specialization, where 4 paragraphs were modified and two paragraphs were deleted, so the scale became containing 38 items. This study reached the following results: 1- The students of the experimental group that studied according to the Beggs model outperformed the control group that studied in the traditional way in achievement. 2- The superiority of the experimental group that studied according to the program over the control group according to the Big Pages program and reading comprehension in literature and texts In light of the results, the researcher recommended the need to focus on reading comprehension and its relationship to the Pages program as one of the modern teaching methods for students and its positive effects on the learning and teaching process.

Abstract Rhetorical argumentation theory is concerned with studying rhetorical techniques that aim to stimulate the minds of those being addressed, or to raise their support for the issues under discussion in order to reach general agreement. This theory is also concerned with examining and testing the conditions that help initiate and develop argumentation, and the effects resulting from it as well.

Abstract From the perspective of applied linguistics, the study examines the relationship between language and mathematical language in learners' knowledge. These are two aspects each of which contributes to the learning process with its own scientific characteristics. In this regard, this research is entitled “Systematicity of Language and Mathematics in Language Learning Faculty”. Sixth grade high school students in the literary and scientific branches use both criteria within their branches. The aim of this study is to determine which of the learners of the literary and scientific branches make more and better use of these criteria to produce correct sentences. For this purpose, in the performance analysis section, statistical data obtained by students is used to assess the importance and value of mathematical language in enriching the faculty of learning and knowledge of mother tongue, and it should be also studied as learners’ international and second language.

Abstract This study examines Alice Munro's short story "Queenie", and how the female characters cope with grief and solitude. The study come across that the female protagonist of the short narrative felt lonely and unhappy throughout. The Study finds out that other works ascribed to the same author have common narrative elements. The story structures show how the protagonist's emotions of loneliness lead to her ultimate satisfaction. This Paper employs a structuralist technique, focusing on Tzvetan Todorov's Narratology theory. The story's analysis reveals a continuous narrative structure in which the protagonist's emotions of loneliness are turned into the realisation of her ambitions and objectives.

Abstract Researchers and language instructors have attempted to utilize the most influential teaching frameworks which are related to enhance language production and how they influence the learners’ outcome positively. The study aims at exploring two explicit teaching frameworks; Present – Practice – Produce (PPP) and Illustration – Interaction – Induction (III) on learning spoken discourse markers by Kurdish non-native speakers of English. The current research reports findings from an experimental design conducted at Knowledge University in Kurdistan Region which is a private university. 66 Kurdish EFL learners participated and they were on the Upper intermediate or B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference Ability Scale (CEFR). Two different experimental groups were taught the same categories of spoken discourse markers compared to a control group. One way ANOVA and post-hoc S-N-K test of post-test revealed statistically significant differences of PPP group compared to III and control groups in relation to the higher mean scores of the total spoken discourse markers used in the post-test. The qualitative findings showed that PPP group insisted on the usefulness of their method that helped them exhibit good performances in their speaking test. Moreover, participants from both PPP and III groups gave importance to practicing as a crucial aspect of learning the target language forms. Keywords: Spoken discourse markers, Kurdish non-native speakers of English, explicit teaching frameworks, PPP, III

Abstract Jostein Gaarder (1952- ) is a Norwegian thinker and author of a great number of novels, short stories, and children's books among them Sophie's World. This novel deals with a number of issues, and uses a lot of postmodern techniques like meta-fiction. This paper is to explain the use of meta-fiction in the concerned novel to the readers as a postmodern element. Sophie's World, besides being a great philosophical one, it contains several meta-fictional elements like: the story has another story within, commenting on the story while telling it; the narrator exposes himself as both: a character and the narrator, and many more elements. The paper is divided into two sections and a conclusion. Section one deals theoretically with meta-fiction, self-reflexivity and inter-textuality as postmodern techniques. Section two is the analysis of the novel. At the end of the paper is the conclusion which will show the findings of the analysis. The paper end with the works cited.

Abstract This research aims to solve a complex and persistent problem which is represented by the fear of our learner to produce orally in FLE class, namely: glossophobia and the blocking of the FLE learner in class. This is the reason why we are studying, as a solution, the impact of integrating playful activities in the teaching / learning of oral production in FLE class and aim, in this integration, to help our learner to feel confident in groups in FLE class and to unlock orally. So, first of all, we started with the definition of the word ʺplayful‶ to find out its exact meaning. Then, we indicated the types of playful activities in FLE class. Afterwards, we proposed ten essential criteria for the selection of playful activities in FLE class to make our learner speak in FLE class. In addition, we have written twenty important points of advantages and disadvantages of playful activities in FLE class. On the other hand, we have prepared a detailed questionnaire of twenty seven questions addressed to the learner. Finally, we have proposed recommendations as a solution favorable to the problem of blocking our learner orally. Finally, we put an exhaustive conclusion as a final point to this study.