اللغة الإنجليزية

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A Discourse-Semiotic Analysis of Socio-Cultural Aspects of Television Advertising
(University of Algiers II. Faculty of Letters and Languages, 2010) Azzouni, Mouloud; Hamitouche, Fatiha (Directeur de thèse)
Nowadays, as a direct consequence of revolutionary advances in technology, TV advertisements (ads) have become omnipresent in our lives. However, they are rarely studied in the context of Algerian academia despite their importance. Being complex ‘coded’ discourses, TV ads need to be ‘decoded’ in order to get their meanings. In an attempt to shed light on the meaning of TV ads, this dissertation proposes an interdisciplinary approach that aims to analyze TV ads by borrowing analytical tools from the fields of semiotics and discourse analysis. The dissertation is a qualitative comparative one, using a discursive-semiotic approach to explore the socio-cultural elements in two TV ads, one in English and the second in Arabic. It is divided into two main parts : a theoretical part and an analytical part. The analysis of the two TV ads (one for the luxury watches Rolex, the other for a mobile telephone company, Nedjma) reveals the efficient use of a considerable amount of socio-cultural signs in the structure of both ads. But what is interesting is that each TV ad adapts those socio-cultural signs and symbols to the nature of the product/service being advertised, and to the environment or context in which it is going to be used. The result is a highly persuasive discourse, characterized by its multimodality. The TV ads benefit at full stretch by the potential for meaning-making, offered by the possibility of combination between different modes of representation (language, image and sound, for instance). The socio-cultural signs and symbols used in the discursive construction of the TV ads are themselves polyvocal. So, when used in combination they offer a wealth of possible meanings; and they create room for connotations. In fact, the analysis shows that it is connotation which takes primacy over denotation in both TV ads. The contribution of this dissertation is that it compares the important socio-cultural elements in the building the discourse of two TV ads and points to areas of similarities and differences.
A linguistic analysis of english according to the neo-khalilian theory at the lexical and supra-lexical levels and its contribution to the teaching of english.
(جامعة الجزائر 2 أبو القاسم سعد الله university of Algiers 2 Abu EL Kacem Saad Allah, 2015) Khalout, Fatiha; Khaldi, kamel
This study, entitled "A Linguistic Analysis of English According to The Neo-Khalilian Theory at The Lexical And Supra-Lexical Levels And Its Contribution to The Teaching of English", aims at presenting and discussing the neo-khalilian theory and its concepts, before it considers its applicability to the analysis of one aspect of English grammar, namely the English tense forms. The study also investigates the ways in which this analysis can be translated into teaching materials specifically designed for Computer Assisted Language Learning. Thus, we suggest a computer application labelled SCHEME TESTER whose algorithm is based on this description to validate these linguistic patterns and to propose a tool for the teaching and learning of English tense forms.
A Quest for an African American Identity in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Toni Morrison’s Beloved
(University of Algiers 2 Abou El Kacem Saadallah, 2017) Mansour Boukhtache, Fatima Zahra; Djemaî, Fouad
This dissertation is concerned with the issue of African American identity formation in two important contemporary novels: Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952) and Toni Morrison Beloved (1987). While our purpose is to investigate the ways in which the theme of identity in treated in the two novels, our hope is to bring forth their distinctiveness in the African American literary tradition. By exploring the theme of identity in the two novels, I examine the thematic features which reflect the common concerns of the writers as well as the stylistic devices through which they support their thematic preoccupations. By comparing the two novels, we aim to explore the writers’ redefinition of African American identity by taking into account their experimentation at the level of both form and theme
A QUEST FOR HAPPINESS WILLIAM MORRIS’S NEWS FROM NOWHERE AND WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS’S A TRAVELER FROM ALTRURIA AND THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE
(University of Algiers. Faculty of Arts and Languages, 2008) Bensaou, Selma; Amrane, Nadjia (Directeur de thèse)
This research work entitled A Quest for Happiness is a comparative study of the utopian romances of the English writer, William Morris (News from Nowhere), and his American counterpart, William Dean Howells (A Traveler from Altruria with its sequel Through the Eye of the Needle). Both writers, in reaction to their 19th century competitive and ugly societies tried to imagine a fairer and more beautiful world. This work is a comparison of the two writers' respective representations of what an ideal society is or should be, with a view to exploring and pinpointing the similarities and differences between the two on the basis of three major ideas which are: Egalitarianism, Agrarianism, and Art. This constitutes our thematic concern in this research. This comparative study will also examine the aesthetic side of the romances as a specific literary genre. The similarities and differences in the romances are explored in the light of the Cultural Materialist theory (essentially as developed in Raymond Williams's seminal work Culture and Society). This approach will enable us to link the romances to their 19th century context, on the one hand, and to open new venues of interpretation more relevant to the 21st century social, economic and even ecological issues, on the other hand. This study is divided into four chapters. The first chapter entitled "The Egalitarian Land" discusses the egalitarian doctrines, and then moves to a close study of the text showing the two writers' egalitarian views. The second chapter entitled "The Agrarian Garden" looks at agrarianism in the contexts of 19th century England and America, a doctrine which helps in the establishment of a more egalitarian society to replace the unfair 19th century social system. A study of the text follows to show the agrarian stance of the two utopias as tackled through the dramatization of incidents and situations in the two romances. The third chapter entitled "Of Beauty and Soul" highlights the artistic side of Morris and his influence by the social and art critic Ruskin. Morris advocated "popular art", an art performed by, and accessible to the common man. This idea he shared with Howells. This part, on the other hand, insists on Howells's more markedly religious stance. The fourth and last chapter deals with the aesthetic study of the two romances. It looks at some major literary devices such as setting and atmosphere, characterization, plot and point of view. It shows how far both Morris's and Howells's romances conform to the genre and prove adequate to the presentation of their ideal society.
A RE-EVALUATION OF KEY FIGURES’ STRUCTURE AND CONCEPTS IN FEMALE WRITING: CHARLOTTE BRONTE’S JANE EYRE (1847)
(جامعة الجزائر 02 أبو القاسم سعد الله University of Algiers 2 Abou El Kacem Saadallah, 2018) BOUGUETTAYA, Imen; Zeghar, Dalila (Directeur de thèse)
The present Magister dissertation studies the key figures’ structure and concepts in a female novel: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre written in 1847. Actually, different disciplines are used when scrutinizing Jane Eyre such as history, politics, economy and philosophy; hence, making of it an interdisciplinary study. This research work is based on both Darko Suvin’s agential theory that is meant to examine the structural arrangement of the narrative and on the Feminist theory whose main goal is to bring an eventual change for women who are subject to alienation, oppression, domination and hegemony. Nonetheless, it is worth pointing out that when studying the structure of the narrative, the socio-historical context is revealed automatically
A Rhetorical analysis of the persuasive
(university Abou el Kacem SaadAllah جامعة الجزائر2, 2014) Medjedoub, Rima; Bensemane, M'hamed
The present research was carried out dueb to the importance of persuasive strategies in social and work settings. Therefore, i analysed persuasive political discourse to answer these questions : what are the persuasve devices employed in Barack Obama's 2012 compaign speeches? how are they used? and what are their effects? to analyse the speeches, i suggested a reserved version of Burke's Cluster analysis that permits an inductive analysis which is a newly proposed perspective. the results show that although Obama utilized a combination of strategies , he capitalized on pathos. The findings of such a work can be a source for teachers and students of discourse analysis, literature and written expression.
AFRICAN WOMEN’S QUEST FOR SELF-REALIZATION BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN
(University of Algiers. Faculty of Letters and Languages, 2009) Saïl, Amina; Aït Hammou, Louisa (Directeur de thèse)
Whether or not Buchi Emecheta’s novels hold an articulate feminist ideology has been subject to hot debates among critics. Some views seem to find in Emecheta’s representation of the female experience an attack on the traditional patriarchal values of her society, and hence a call for a complete break with traditions. Others find that traditional African women enjoyed some degree of freedom and autonomy that were undermined by their contact with the West after the colonization of their countries. Therefore, according to them, the motif of her novels is to denounce the colonial oppression of traditional women. The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate of the female experience in Emecheta’s novels, The Slave Girl and The Joys of Motherhood in an attempt to understand the implications of both patriarchy and colonialism in the shaping of the Nigerian feminine self. It is a study of the representation of the Nigerian woman’s identity as female, black, colonized, and African in order to explain how race and gender were woven together as determinant factors that affected the female experience during the colonial period. Our aim is to explore Buchi Emecheta’s construction of womanhood in terms of the Self/Other concept which was developed by existentialist philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and given a feminist dimension by Simone de Beauvoir. This concept will equally inform our study of the colonizer/colonized relation in order the explain the situation of Nigerian women under British rule.
ALICE WALKER’S FORBIDDEN TRUTHS IN POSSESSING THE SECRET OF JOY, IN LOVE AND TROUBLE: STORIES OF BLACK WOMEN AND YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD WOMAN DOWN
(University of Algiers 2. Faculty of Letters and Languages, 2012) Azzouz, Ryma; Ait Hamou, Louisa (Directeur de thèse)
The present research work examines how women are made able to overcome society’s forbidden truths — and the state of self-hatred engendered by these latter — to attain the state of wholeness or spiritual maturity. To fulfill such examination, Alice Walker’s taboo-breaking writing in Possessing the Secret of Joy, In Love and Trouble and You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down is analyzed. In Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker’s desacralization of the forbidden goes to the extreme. In this novel, the forbidden truth disclosed is female genital mutilation. In the study at hand, the disclosure of the forbidden is related to a process of maturation, marked by a move from self-hatred to wholeness. To account for this move in Possessing the Secret of Joy, recourse is made to a Jungian perspective. Carl Jung’s conception of this move, or what he referred to as the individuation process, lends to the female protagonist’s path to wholeness, in this novel, a progressive aspect. Yet, despite the fruitfulness that can ensue from this aspect and from the adoption of a Jungian perspective to analyze a novel whose author clearly recognized the healing impact Jung’s psychology had upon her, it appears impossible to apply the Jungian perspective, as it is, on the inner journey of the female protagonist of Possessing the Secret of Joy, known as Tashi. What seems to pose a problem in Carl Jung’s theorization of “psychic growth” is the presence of some allusions to women’s innate inferiority. It is more specifically in his theorization of the complementarity notion, or what he called “the anima-animus archetype”, that these allusions are apparent. This archetype represents one of the steps in the process of individuation, or “psychic growth”, the novel’s protagonist goes through. According to Carl Jung, it is during this phase that the individual discovers and faces her masculine side, or animus, if it is a woman or his feminine side, or anima, if it is a man. It has been observed by many feminist critics, like Susan Rowland, Verena Kast and Naomi Goldenberg that the Jungian theorization of duality is sexist and fell into the trap of easy stereotyping based on conventional gender roles. For them, what is specifically sexist in the Jungian theorization of duality is Jung’s consideration of women’s rationality, logic and spiritual strength as specific to what he deems their masculine side, or animus. So, whenever a woman is strong enough and escapes society’s patriarchal socialization, for the Jungians this is due to her masculine side. In In Love and Trouble and You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down, the forbidden analyzed is more complex and less striking, but equally dangerous and harmful. In the two short stories entitled “Roselily” and “‘Really, Doesn’t Crime Pay?’”, it is identified with the degenerating effects of wifehood and motherhood in a woman’s life — especially when they are imposed as women’s only spheres of activity. In these short stories, it is not certain whether the state of wholeness is attained, but the process of maturation the female protagonists go through is itself revelatory of the different workings responsible for women’s oppression by society and its forbidden truths. In You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down, the female protagonists are equally oppressed by the forbidden, even though they are more assertive and self-confident. In “Advancing Luna — and Ida B. Wells”, the confrontation with the forbidden truth of interracial rape is lived by a woman writer activist. Even though this short story does not seem to have a definite end, its protagonist is nonetheless able to reach the point of condemning rape (interracial or not) and matures into a more committed writer. In “Coming Apart,” the forbidden issue treated by the writer is identified in the present research as pornography and its debasing power. What is particular about this short story is that the confrontation with the forbidden and the ensuing attainment of a certain maturity is lived by a man. Even though in some of her works, like The color Purple or Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker seems to be always willing to give men the role of the villains, this does not mean she is a separatist defending the rights of only women and blaming men for all the ills of the world. In this short story, she proves her interest in also men’s spiritual ascension towards the state of wholeness. Alice Walker instigates universal solidarity between people of all races, social backgrounds and of both sexes.
An Afro-centrist Perspective of cultural affirmation and social progress in p'Bitek's Song of Lawino and Song of ocol and Ngugi's I will marry when I want
(University of Algiers. Faculty of Letters and Languages, 2009) Boucherifi, Boualem; Bensemmane, M’hamed (Directeur de thèse)
This dissertation studies the militant socio-cultural and political positions of Okot p'Bitek, as well as Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Ngugi wa Mirii. The focus is on Okot's long poems Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol, and on the Ngugi play I Will Marry When I Want. S L and S O truly epitomise Okot's philosophy of 'Africa's Cultural Revolution'. In S L, the poet charges his epic character, Lawino with the mission of presenting, interpreting and eventually defending the traditional aspects of her community. Equipped with a remarkable charisma, eloquent words and a lucid vision, Lawino expresses her sympathies and anxieties through describing Acoli food, dances, aesthetics, medicine, beliefs, rituals, religion and many other aspects. S L constitutes a solid argument centred on the idea of a 'search' for an African identity. As this dissertation suggests, Okot's cultural insights impress even non-Acoli readers, because of Lawino's particular use of figurative language, similes, metaphors, irony, mockery and satire. Its publication in 1966 inspired other African writers to evoke the richness and originality of their cultural heritage. In his rejoinder Song of Ocol, Okot sketches Lawino's husband like an adamant figure embracing Western values, ideals and culture. If Lawino stands for traditionalism, Ocol represents the African educated 'élite' attracted by modernity and the European lifestyle. Ocol's stand point is hyperbolically dramatised by his negation of his own culture, his own people, his wife and even himself. The caricature is carried further when Ocol takes the advantage of his Western education to become a ruthless political leader striving for power and money. Instead of promoting justice and progress, Ocol shocks his audience by his indifference to poverty, disease and ignorance. By making him a symbol of Africa's cruellest dictators, Okot criticises the hypocrisy of Africa's national leaders and points at their failure to meet social aspirations. I W M by the two Ngugis deals with the socio-economic reasons for the down fall of the Kiguunda family. In accordance with the 'people's theatre' or the 'theatre of the oppressed', the dramatists portray the life of the Kiguunda family who fail to pay back a bank loan. Their situation is complicated when their land is sold at auction, their daughter falls in prostitution and Kiguunda sinks into alcoholism. In fact, Ngugi is implicitly accusing the western capitalists and their local collaborators of impoverishing peasants and workers. Thus, the two Ngugis attempt to re-define the priorities of the national independence through their political activism in Kamiriithu theatre with peasants and workers. Adopting a socialist ideology, the dramatists describe a kind of class struggle between the Kiois and the Kiguundas, i.e., the bourgeois and the peasants. While Okot lays the stress on Uganda's need for a cultural revaluation, or indeed revolution, Ngugi is more concerned to consider culture as a basis on which to construct a just and democratic society in post independent Kenya.
An Exploration of EFL Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Algeria
(University of Algiers 2 Abou El Kacem Saadallah جامعة الجزائر 02 أبو القاسم سعد الله, 2017) Kouider, MAKHLOUF; BENSAFI, Zoulikha (Directeur de thèse)
This study aimed to explore the attitudes of Secondary School EFL teachers in the Western District of Chlef toward Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Algeria. Additionally, the study attempted to investigate the relationship between teachers’ attitudes and five independent variables: personal characteristics, computer attributes, cultural perceptions, computer competence, and computer access. Mixed methods research was used combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods. A questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used in order to collect the data. The findings indicated that EFL teachers held positive attitudes toward ICT in education. There were statistically significant positive correlations between teachers’ attitudes toward ICT and the five aforementioned independent variables. It was also found that Age and Academic Qualification had a negative correlation with attitudes.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE LECTURE COMPREHENSION &NOTE TAKING STRATEGIES OF SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BLIDA
(2008) Missoum, Maâmar; Boukhedimi, Yasmine (Directeur de thèse)
For many years (1995-2002), the Department of English of the University of Blida witnessed low rates of academic achievement of students preparing an English Degree. An analysis of the second year students' course grades in academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and data from a preliminary survey with some teachers reflected signs that the students were experiencing learning difficulties. This situation prompted an investigation of a suspected factor behind those difficulties, namely, comprehending and taking notes from lectures. Listening to lectures and taking notes from them are the most widely used academic skills in the English Department. The main purpose of the present study is to examine the students' lecture comprehension and note taking strategies. Effective listeners employ certain strategies to understand lecture content and note down useful information. The review of the literature sets the theoretical framework for the study by defining key lecture comprehension and note taking strategies. Five research tools (observation of authentic lectures, a test of lecture comprehension, the subjects' lecture notes, survey questionnaires and an analysis of instruction in listening and note taking in the English Department) were used to investigate the strategies the subjects use to comprehend lectures and take note from them. Triangulation is necessary to moderate the various potential threats to the validity of the data. The findings obtained seem to indicate that most of the subjects were not using efficient lecture comprehension and note taking strategies, and that listening instruction was not providing adequate training in these strategies. Recommendations are offered to improve the ability of students in Algerian English Departments to learn better from lectures.
AUTHORITARIANISM, CONFORMITY, AND THE QUEST FOR INDIVIDUAL AUTHENTICITY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE’S THE SCARLET LETTER AND ARTHUR MILLER’S THE CRUCIBLE
(University of algiers2 Abu El Kacem Saad Allah جامعة الجزائر 2 أبو القاسم سعد الله, 2015) Ounis, Chahrazed; Déramchia, Yamina (Directeur de thèse)
This dissertation is a contribution towards investigating the themes of authoritarianism, conformity and the search for individual authenticity in American literature, notably, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter (1850) and Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (1953). The study adopts Ihab Hassan’s theory of comparative literature which claims that the similarity that can be found between literary works is a result of the similarities in the historical and cultural circumstances that surrounded and led to the production of these literary works. Thus, the present work sets out to determine how The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible link to each other both in terms of the themes under study and the historical context. The present research work studies the themes of authoritarianism and conformity and examines, subsequently, the extent to which it is successful for an individual to resist conformity and achieve an authentic sense of the self. The topic of the study is approached in a New Historicist perception which helps to relate the literary works in question with their sociopolitical context
Blogging to improve EFL writing
(2 universitry ABOU HJLKJ of qlgiers2جامعة أبو القاسم سعد الله الجزائر, 2014) salhi, Hassina; Bensemmane, Faiza
Blogs belong to the new 20 technologies, they have specific features like being text based and allowing commenting. That can be used for learning and teaching writing skills. This study showed that blogs can be potentiolly efficient for this purpose. Howver, their integration in the EFL writing class needs an adequate franework.
BREAKING THE SILENCE : RECLAIMING FEMALE SUBECTIVITY IN THE AFRICAN MUSLIM CULTURE
(University of algiers2 Abu El Kacem Saad Allah جامعة الجزائر 2 أبو القاسم سعد الله, 2017) Nouioua, Wahiba; Ait Hamou, Louiza (Directeur de thèse)
In this dissertation, we will explore the disempowerment of Muslim women in Africa under cultural norms in the narratives of Mariama Ba’ So Long a Letter (1981) and Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero (1983). The culture under examination , in this thesis, does not only exploit long embedded traditional norms to emphasize man supremacy , but it also manipulates the tenets of religion to reinforce and legitimize the status quo. Particularly, we examine the role of cultural norms to breed patriarchal logic of gender inequality which sanction women’s unfair treatment under institutions like polygamy, marriage and prostitution . The study goes on to look for possibilities of empowerment for the female characters . These possibilities include agential acts like writing and narration as modes of reclaiming subjectivity and defy the patriarchal order.
BRITISH CINEMA, POLITICS, AND AUDIENCE FROM THE THIRTIES TO THE FIFTIES
(UNIVERSITY OF ALGIERS 2. Faculty of Foreign Languages, 2016) Saci, Nassima; Mansouri, Brahim (Directeur de thèse)
With the growing influencing power of media in general, and cinema in particular, in everyday life, this thesis examines the way the audience could be ideologically manipulated by films. This research is significant because not enough attention has been paid to the way British cinema disseminated rightwinged ideology for political purposes during a relatively longer period of time, especially those which are marked by pivotal historical events. Through a textual and contextual study, that is to say, an analysis based on both content and concomitant circumstances, this work has tackled the issue via a synchronic and diachronic level by examining six films purposefully sampled. This study is based on the Historicist and Cultural Studies’ approaches, the theoretical framework that has been applied here is composed of two critical theories that both belong to the Marxian tradition: Gramsci’s Cultural Hegemony and Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model. The period covers to a thirty year stretch of time comprising the thirties, the forties, and the fifties. Results were consistent with the aforementioned hypothesis. Findings show that those films confirmed that the seemingly ideological shift through time was only superficial and sustained a strong right-wing tendency in the background, leading us to think that the ideological manipulation of the audience was consistently top-down, that is, from the Ruling Class to the Working Class with the aim of sustaining the status quo. In this sense, the theoretical assumptions are, in turn, confirmed as well.
Code switching and gender in sms textuing among algerian university students
(2 universitry ABOU HJLKJ of qlgiers2جامعة أبو القاسم سعد الله الجزائر, 2014) Ibersiene Achili, Nora; Hamitouche, F.
This study investigated the nature of SMS messaging, by focusing on gender differences in the amount and types of Code switching, on the one hand, and differences in language use between male and female texters, on the other hand. The study involved English Department students who evolve in an Algerian multilingual context. Data for the study was collected by using two research tools: a corpus of messages sent by the students and a questionnaire. Instances of Code switching and language use in these messages were identified, counted and analyzed. The study showed that there were twotypes of code switching occurring in messages: Extrasententialand Intrasententialswitching types, with the last mentioned as the most frequent type. In terms of gender, the results showed that there were significant differences in code switching behaviors between males and females, with females code switching more and using Intrasentential Code switching type more than men.
COLLOCATIONAL ERROR ANALYSIS:INVESTIGATING LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL MISCOLLOCATIONS IN STUDENTS’ WRITTEN PRODUCTION
(جامعة الجزائر 02 أبو القاسم سعد الله University of Algiers 2 Abou El Kacem Saadallah, 2018) belhamel, amina; Hamitouche, Fatiha (Directeur de thèse)
This study was carried out primarily to investigate collocational errors in 100 English written production of Third Year students at Mohammed Lamine Dabaghine University-Setif-2. It seeks to examine the lexical and grammatical collocational errors. An analytical-descriptive exploratory research design adopting a mixed method approach was followed. Also, two questionnaires were distributed to the students and 14 teachers of Written Expression, and a semi-structured interview with Third Year Written Expression teachers was conducted. To detect the errors, a particular reference was made to Taxonomy of Benson’s et al., (1986) modified version and Error Analysis Procedures. The statistical analysis revealed that a total of 396 errors were found in both lexical collocation (259: 65.40%) and grammatical collocation (137: 34.60%).
DESIGNING A TASK-BASED LITERATURE COURSE FOR SECOND YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
(University of Algiers 2. Faculty of Letters and Languages, 2012) Belal, Yamina; Khaldi, Kamel (Directeur de thèse)
The purpose of this study is to design a task-based literature course to Second Year L.M.D. students. To do so, the study begins by evaluating the current Second Year literature course (the classical one) with its two components: the English literature course and the American literature course so as to determine the strengths and weaknesses of this course and notably in what concerns raising students' aesthetic reading or response to literature and extending their language ability. For this purpose, two questionnaires were designed to gather data from the sample which is composed of 5 literature teachers and a group of 30 Second Year students. In addition, the study made use of non-participant ethnographic observation whereby some notes about the procedures of the literature lessons were recorded from two literature classes. The analysis of the data obtained from these research tools shows the following: - The students and the teachers have different priorities concerning the objectives to achieve from the literature course: While the teachers are more concerned with literary skills, the students are concerned with developing their language ability - The difficulty and inaccessibility of some of the literary works in the programme. - The use of teacher-centred teaching techniques which do not encourage students' interaction and therefore reaction or response to the literary text - The teachers take students' language ability for granted and focus on literary analysis at the expense of the language of the texts. - The use of assessment procedures more appropriate to native speakers than non- native speakers. Based on these findings and on the teachers' and the students' suggestions, the study comes up with a task-based literature course for Second Year L.M.D. students. The course involves students in performing tasks before, while and after reading. We presume that this will ensure the engagement of the students with the literary text while paying attention to its language and encourage them to generate discourse. As such the purposes of raising students' aesthetic reading and developing their language ability are both served.
Designing an Alternative Interactional Project Work
(University of Algiers 2. Faculty of Arts and Languages, 2012) Boukhentache, Slimane; Khaldi, Kamel (Directeur de thèse)
This study investigates whether first-year Algerian secondary school project work achieves its objectives in terms of interaction and examines the major obstacles, which we identified as the textbook and teachers’ and learners’ beliefs about foreign language teaching/learning and project work. On the basis of the information which stemmed from the findings, we have attempted to design an alternative interactional project work. Classroom observations and teachers’ and learners’ questionnaires were applied to evaluate whether the existing project work exploits its rich potential for promoting and generating contexts for meaningful interaction. Regarding the project hurdles, they were investigated through teachers’ and learners’ questionnaires, follow-up interviews and documents. The results suggest that this activity, as it stands, does not successfully contribute to the accomplishment of its oral interaction goals and indicate that the textbook and teachers’ and learners’ conceptions of language learning/teaching and project work are, indeed, a hindrance. However, it should be noted that the textbook and teachers’ and learners’ beliefs about language learning/teaching and project work can not account for all the findings of the present inquiry. Factors such time constraints, examination pressures, and project work being difficult and a lot of work seem also to have a bearing on the failure of project work to promote and create contexts for interaction. On the basis of the information we gathered from the exploration of the project work hurdles in the first-year, we developed a rationale for the design of an alternative interactional project work. Ten principles, identified on the basis of this research, were applied to the first unit of the textbook, ‘At the Crossroads’, to remedy to the textbook weaknesses and to address both teachers’ and learners’ incorrect beliefs about foreign language learning/teaching in general and project work in particular. These caveats consist mainly of explicit guidance, project structuring, and the incorporation of pedagogical tools such as project planning and pseudo-assessment grids.
Discourse, counter discourse and the manichean factor in the fiction of Conrad, Cary and Chinua Achebe
(university Abou el Kacem SaadAllah جامعة الجزائر2, 2014) Bechani, Fatima; Bensemane, M'hamed
This dissertation is concerned with the issue of feminism in three important novels belonging to post-colonial literature, and rarely studied in conjunction. By exploring feminine enunciations in the works of the African writer Ama Ata Aidoo'sOur Sister Killjoy, or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint andChanges: A Love Storyand the African-American Alice Walker's The Color Purple, I examine the stylistic and thematic features which reflect the common concerns of African and African-American women writers by focusing on the way the characters, themes and women's issues are dealt with in their fiction. This study postulates that even though the lives of the African and African-American women are shaped by different historical forces and social traditions, situations and issues intersect -as revealed by Aidoo and Walker's writings -because of a common background of patriarchal domination. Through the course of this study, an attempt is made to draw a comparison between the black women portrayed in the literary works of the two writers, how African female protagonists have fared, as compared to their African-American counterparts. Furthermore, the various issues affecting these protagonists' lives are analyzed, insisting on the specificities of race, class, nationality and sexualities that intersect with gender. In the process of critically discussing the novels, the emphasis islaid on the socio-cultural and historical factors, such as patriarchy, slavery, racism and sexism, as being the causes of the resentment or dissent noted in the females' behaviors. Then, this study examines the extent to which these constraints succeed in silencing and marginalizing the 'subaltern' women by reducing them to an inferior status. I also examine their degree of resistance in the novels, and consider to what extent the female protagonists react and reject the silence imposed by these dominant ideologies.