LINGUIST List 12.1491: Theoretical/Applied Linguistics

Message 1: Theoretical/Applied Linguistics: Diversity in Language

Date:

From:

Subject:

New Book Focuses on the Complexities between the English and Arabic Languages. The Arabic and English languages have developed along separate lines over the centuries. Thus, it is no surprise that even apart from purely cultural elements, there are distinctive characteristics of the two languages that pose particular problems to native speakers one of one language attempting to learn the other. Diversity in Language: Contrastive Studies in English and Arabic Theoretical and Applied Linguistics ($ 29.50, 256 pp.) offers new views on the contrasts between Arabic and English and on contemporary theoretical and applied linguistics as well as sociolinguistics. Edited by Zeinab Ibrahim, Nagwa Kassabgy, and Sabiha Aydelott, Egyptian scholars affiliated with the American University in Cairo, the papers in this volume, focus on four main topics - the distinctive features of the Arabic language, comparative studies between Arabic and English, style and form, and attitudes and comprehension - of English and Arabic linguistics and teaching. Written by an international panel of linguists and writers, the contributors to Diversity in Language were participants in the First International Conference on Contrastive Rhetoric, held at the American University in Cairo in 1999. The book discusses distinctive features that make the Arabic language especially difficult for English speakers to understand fully and intuitively. Comparative studies of English and Arabic, including research on the acquisition of Arabic or English as a second language, underscore the concept of diversity. Contributors also investigative stylistics, a major source of diversity between the two languages. Practical observations and suggestions will help teachers of Arabic and English as a second language enable students to better understand their second language and become more persuasive and effective in using it. Diversity in Language is a welcome addition to the bookshelves of scholars and students of Arabic, contrastive rhetoric, and linguistics. Teachers of English as a foreign language, even if their students are not primarily from an Arab-speaking background, will likewise benefit from the insights made in these contrastive students. The book includes the following papers: Arabic Language: Distinctive Features 1. El Said Badawi An Opinion on the Meanings of I'rab in Classical Arabic: The State of the Nominal Sentence. Summary in English 2. Huda M.M. Ghali The Syntax of Colloquial Egyptian Proverbs 3. Devin Stewart Understanding the Quran in English: Notes on Translation, Form, and Prophetic Typology Arabic and English: Comparative Studies 4. Nagwa Kassabgy and Mona Kamel Hassan Relativization in English and Arabic: A Bidirectional Study 5. Mohammad Al-Khawalda The Expression of Futurity in the Arabic and English Languages 6. Jehan Allam A Sociolinguistic Study on the Use of Color Terminology in Egyptian Colloquial and Classical Arabic 7. Nancy G. Hottel-Burkhart The Canons of Aristotelian Rhetoric: Their Place in Contrastive Arabic-English Studies Writing: Learning Style and Form 8. Maha El Seidi Metadiscourse in English and Arabic Argumentative Writing: A Cross-Linguistic Study of Texts Written by American and Egyptian University Students 9. Cynthia May Sheikholeslami and Nabia el-Taher Makhlouf The Impact of Arabic on ESL Expository Writing 10. Loubna Abdel Tawab Youssef Teaching "Form" in English Verse to Arabic Poetry Readers Language Acquisition: Attitudes and Comprehension 11. Christopher W. Horger Dialectal Analysis of Freshman Writing Students' Attitudes toward American and British Dialects 12. Abdel-Hakeem Kasem The Acquisition of the English Copula by Native Speakers of Lebanese Arabic: A Developmental Perspective 13. Salwa A. Kamel Categories of Comprehension in Argumentative Discourse: A Cross-Linguistic Study (continued) The American University in Cairo Press is celebrating its 40th year as the Middle East's leading English-Language publisher. Books are available through Books International (703) 661-1570 in the U.S. and via European in Europe. For further information on Diversity in Language and other titles, contact Chris Terry, North American Marketing Manager at (212) 730-8800, or by fax at (212) 730-1600, or via e-mail: ct_aucpress

aucnyo.edu ABOUT THE EDITORS: Sabiha Aydelott teaches in the Freshman Writing Program at the American University in Cairo. She has a doctorate in education, with specialization in reading and writing, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has taught in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and the United States. Zeinab Ibrahim is the Executive Director of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad. She received her Ph.D. from Georgetown University. Her research is in the fields of sociolinguistics and comparative studies. Nagwa Kassabgy received her M.A. in teaching English as a foreign language from the American University in Cairo and is English language instructor at AUC's English Language Institute. Diversity in Language: Contrastive Studies in English and Arabic Theoretical and Applied Linguistics Edited by Zeinab Ibrahim, Nagwa Kassabgy, and Sabiha Aydelott U.S. Publication Date: February 2001 ISBN: 977 424 578 4 $ 29.50 (cloth) 256 pp. 6 x 9

Pubs-postscript-html