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Polyphony and the anxiety of influence in the fiction of Henry James
Full text linkJames's fiction, especially in the Middle Phase, centres
on the figure of the artist and is characterized by, the two
interrelated aspects which previous criticism has largely
overlooked: the Bakhtinian 'polyphonic' -creation of
'author-thinkers'; and the conflict between ephebes and
precursors, for which Harold-Bloom's concept of 'the-anxiety of
influence' is the most illuminating model. Polyphony is the
narrative mode, and influence is the intra-artistic, theme.
These, as the Introduction to the thesis makes clear, are
rehearsed in James's inaugural novel, Roderick Hudson. Rowland
Mallet is an author-thinker, and his failure is caused by
authorial limitations. His monologism -is impaired by his
mistaking empathy for the authorial sympathy. Likewise,
Hudson's failure does not arise from a mercurial temperament,
but from a polyphonic shortcoming: not possessing the power of
fiction to contain the fiction of power in, his mentor. And the
relationships among the three artists - Gloriani, Hudson and
Singleton - perfectly exemplify the Bloomian-theme. It is these
two concepts, polyphony and influence, which are the major
preoccupation in the Middle Phase; as, the works chosen
demonstrate. These are a novella, a novel, and a number of
short stories all of which have been unjustifiably neglected.
Chapter One, on The Aspern Papers, argues that Tina Bordereau,
far from being, the artless victim seen by many critics,
actually challenges and defeats the narrator by the very form
of her narrative. Her 'realist' discourse undermines his
language of 'romance', and shows up its internal unstability.
Chapter Two is an extensive study of the critical reception of
The Tragic Muse. The most common areas of critical attention
have been its contemporary topicality, its relation to previous
novels on similar themes, and the possible genealogy of Gabriel
Nash. Those have all missed the core of the work. - Chapter Three
demonstrates how polyphony and the anxiety of influence make
the novel what it really is. Influence arises from the
juxtaposition of, and the wrestling between, artistic ephebes
and their precursors (Nick and Nash,, Miriam and Madame Carre).
The dialogic quality defined by Bakhtin is crucial to the
proper, and even-handed, characterization of all, the conflicts
in the novel. And since most of James's tales in the eighties
and nineties -are about 'masters - and acolytes, the anxiety of
influence remains central. Chapter Four is a study of 'The
Author of Beltraffiol' and 'The Lesson of the Master'. Again the
characters' manipulations are a crucial focus in a way that
G6rard Genette's terminology helps to illuminate. The fact that
the ephebe is the author-thinker emphasizes the inextricability
of the Bakhtinian and the Bloomian in James. Just as
polyphony offers a different focus for explicating the poetics
of James's fiction; so the ephebal conflict provides the basis
for a fresh perception of James's own artistic struggle
Culture in the EFL Classroom: Western Instructions and Arab Students in the UAE
No full textA Master of Arts thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Bridget M. W. Palmer entitled, "Culture in the EFL Classroom: Western Instructors and Arab Students in the UAE," December 2013. Thesis advisor is Dr. Ahmad Al-Issa. Available are both hard and soft copies of the thesis.In the field of EFL teaching, it is common for instructors and students to come from very different cultural backgrounds. Instructors who leave their home countries and go to teach abroad may have trouble adjusting to the culture of their new teaching context, and cultural misunderstandings that interfere with learning may occur in the classroom (Kramsch, 1993). This research focused on cultural conflicts between Western, native English-speaking instructors and their Arab students at two university-level EFL programs in the UAE. Questionnaires and interviews were used to discover key cultural differences between these two populations, instructors' awareness of these differences, the details of specific classroom cultural conflicts, and the instructors' and students' attitudes toward culture. It was discovered that the Western, native English-speaking instructors and their Arab students hold different values in several areas, including the roles of religion and family in one's personal life and the ideal atmosphere of a classroom. The very experienced instructors involved in this research were also found to be aware of the cultural differences between them and their students. Nine categories of classroom cultural conflicts were identified, the major ones being inappropriate materials/discussion topics, mixed-gender issues, and disrespect for religious customs. Finally, both instructors and students reported having positive attitudes toward cultural understanding in the classroom.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
Teachers' and Students' Perceptions towards the Use of Arabic in Secondary Level English Language Classrooms
No full textA Master of Arts Thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Roussol Kassem Hamze Entitled, "Teachers' and Students' Perceptions towards the Use of Arabic in Secondary Level English Language Classrooms," May 2010. Available are both Hard and Soft Copies of the Thesis.The debate over whether or not students' first language should be used in English language classrooms has been controversial for a long time. Findings in the literature reveal two opposing views: On one end of the continuum are those who believe that L1 should not be used in L2 classrooms and call for its prohibition, and on the other end there are those who believe that L1 is useful for L2 learning and it should be employed in the English language classroom. However, a unified approach regarding the use of L1 is still absent thereby confusing teachers about the contexts in which L1 should and should not be used. It is this debate that aroused my interest in conducting this research. The purpose of the study was to find out teachers' and students' perceptions towards the use of Arabic (L1) in secondary level English language teaching and learning classrooms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, this study set out to discover the similarities and differences in the ways teachers and students perceive the use of Arabic (L1) in English language teaching classrooms, and what are the purposes, if any, in which teachers use Arabic in English language classroom activities. Data were collected from teachers and students' using classroom observations, surveys, and teacher interviews. Findings revealed that the use of Arabic was not encouraged in the private schools in the United Arab Emirates. In addition, students and teachers revealed generally negative attitudes towards its use. However, they employed its use and recognized its usefulness at times and in certain contexts such as explaining difficult grammatical points or new vocabulary. They also employed its use for joking and discussions outside the classroom. Generally, the teachers used Arabic in English language classrooms in order to facilitate students' comprehension and clarify meaning that was difficult to convey using English.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
CEFR in UAE Public Schools: Pedagogical Impacts
No full textA Master of Arts thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Seyed-Reza Hosseinifar entitled, "CEFR in UAE Public Schools: Pedagogical Impacts," submitted Jauary 2017. Thesis advisor is Dr. Ahmad Al-Issa. Soft and hard copy available.The Ministry of Education (MOE) in Dubai used the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) to develop the English Curriculum Framework (ECF) in 2011 - a framework that was piloted in 39 Madares Al Ghad (MAG) Schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between 2011 and 2015. No study has been published to cast light on the impacts of adopting, adapting and implementing the CEFR in UAE public schools so far. This study attempts to act as a forerunner of such research. It examined 85 teachers', 31 teacher trainers' and 3 MOE administrators' perceptions of how lesson planning, teaching and assessment practices changed after the ECF had been implemented. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from semi-structured questionnaires were cross-checked against qualitative data collected from three focus group discussions. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data. Overall, it seems that after the ECF had been implemented, (a) teachers' lesson plans reflected curriculum standards and matched students' needs and interests more often; (b) curriculum strands, listening, speaking, reading and writing, especially the first two, were addressed more often; (c) the frequency of teaching vocabulary and pronunciation increased; (d) teachers' pedagogy became more action-oriented as there was a shift toward communicative, collaborative and self-reflective activities, and (e) instructional and assessment practices became more transparent. However, the participants also reported that they had faced some challenges during the early stages of the ECF implementation. Providing continuous professional development and preparing suitable instructional materials were the two key measures that helped the participants overcome the challenges they had faced. A few barriers persisted throughout the implementation.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
L2 Teachers' Perception Towards the Use of Computers in L2 Language Instruction
No full textA Master of Arts Thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Naim Zuhdi Odeh Entitled, "L2 Teachers' Perception Towards the Use of Computers in L2 Language Instruction," May 2008. Available are both Hard and Soft Copies of the Thesis.The way people communicate with others, conduct research, and gather information has changed due to the dramatic changes in computer technology. Computers have become prevalent everywhere and their presence in schools has been inevitable. In many countries of the world computer-based instruction has been widely used with the advent of computer networks and Internet technology. This can easily be seen in the number of ESOL websites, web projects, and articles about Internet use within the last four or five years. Since the use of computer technology is a new trend in language instruction, it has its opponents and proponents. Many educators think that there are great things that can be done with computers in education, but many others talk about the negative impact of computers on children, especially at early stages. Those who argue against the use of computers in the classroom cluster their arguments around three main ideas: negative impacts on children's health, socializing skills, and education. Proponents of computers, on the other hand, mention many advantages of using computer technology like motivating students to learn, helping students become more independent learners, helping students become more disciplined, providing a wide variety of registers and accents, providing simulations not found in traditional resources, and encouraging language acquisition. In the field of language testing, they argue that using computer technology has many benefits such as immediate feedback, individualized testing, and randomization through test banks to increase test security. Utilizing computer technology in school systems is not only a matter of making a decision of doing that. There are a lot of barriers to overcome. These barriers include the school infrastructure, lack of hardware and software, finances, teacher training, lack of technical, administrative and institutional support, lack of technical and theoretical knowledge necessary to enable teachers to resolve technical problems when they occur, acceptance of technologies, computer anxiety and lack of confidence, and teachers' beliefs and attitudes. This study examines how teachers of English at the secondary schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) perceive the use and incorporation of computer technology in language instruction through an investigation of teachers' attitudes and beliefs about integrating this technology into their classroom practices. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was administered to a number of English language teachers in secondary public schools of the UAE. It was found that teachers responses show positive attitudes towards using computers for general purposes such as surfing the Internet, and using e-mail for personal and/or professional communication. Teachers also show willingness to be trained to incorporate computer technology into classroom practices. This study also reveals that those teachers do not use the Internet for teaching purposes because they have no access to it in their schools.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
Responding to Students' Writing in UAE Government Secondary Schools: Teachers' Attitudes and Practices, and Students' Perceptions
No full textA Master of Arts Thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Aida Fares Abou Eissa Entitled, "Responding to Students' Writing in UAE Government Secondary Schools: Teachers' Attitudes and Practices, and Students' Perceptions," May 2010. Available are both Hard and Soft Copies of the Thesis.The significance of implementing appropriate techniques when responding to students' writing has been widely discussed in the field of language learning in general and second language (L2) context in particular. Paying a great deal of attention to how teachers respond to students' writing, how they go about it and if differences occur between teachers' feedback practices in addition to teachers' attitudes and perceptions, have received little consideration in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context. Teachers may find responding to students' writing a stressful and time-consuming task, and they may as well encounter some challenges in responding to students' writing. In other words, implementing traditional methods of writing assessment may result in decreasing teachers' awareness and appreciation of the necessity to look for useful assessment tools and the factors that might influence their practices. Moreover, little information in the UAE context is available about the perceptions and reactions of students in government secondary schools to their teachers' feedback on their written assignments. This study was an attempt to investigate teachers' attitudes towards writing assessment and their actual practices when responding to students' writing in government secondary schools in the UAE. It also examined students' perceptions regarding this issue. The research sought to answer the following questions: (1) What are English teachers' beliefs and attitudes about providing feedback on students' written assignments in the L2 classrooms? (2) How do English teachers respond to their students' writing in UAE government secondary schools in one educational zone? (3) What are the students' perceptions of their teachers' written feedback on their written assignments? In order to answer these research questions, a combination of qualitative data collection instruments were utilized in the form of two questionnaires and follow-up interviews. The respondents were fifty-one male and female secondary school English language teachers working in eight different secondary boys and girls schools in the Sharjah Educational Zone in the UAE. The follow-up interviews with the eight volunteering teachers provided in-depth information about their attitudes and practices when responding to students' writing. The investigation also surveyed 240 male and female secondary school students in grades 10, 11, and 12. This allowed a better understanding of teachers' assessment practices and students' attitudes towards them. Results showed that regardless of their negative attitudes towards these practices, English teachers were fully aware of their significance for developing students' writing skills and how important it is to implement various responding techniques. The data collected from the students' questionnaire highlighted the fact that students were aware of their teachers' feedback practices. In addition, results indicated that students valued the feedback they receive.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
Effective Teachers of Academic Writing in an EFL Context: Students and Teachers Beliefs
No full textA Master of Arts thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Lama Saleem Zakzak entitled, "Effective Teachers of Academic Writing in an EFL Context: Students and Teachers Beliefs," submitted January 2016. Thesis advisor is Dr. Ahmad Al-Issa. Soft and hard copy available.In the field on EFL academic writing, the teacher plays a pivotal role in the success of the learning process. This research aimed at investigating the characteristics that constitute an effective academic writing instructor, as perceived by EFL Arab students and their instructors. Questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used to discover the beliefs of students and instructors regarding the characteristics of effective academic writing instructors at AUS, in the UAE. Although the small number of instructor respondents did not allow for comparing and contrasting the beliefs of the students with their instructors, it was clear from the findings that there are some variations in the way students and their instructors perceive effective teachers of academic writing. Both students and instructors valued characteristics such as teacher friendliness, patience, and helpfulness, but to varying degrees. However, the students and instructors had different beliefs about characteristics related to teaching. Moreover, two-proportion tests revealed that the response selection tendency of the students was affected by two variables: gender and high school curriculum.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
Teacher Written Feedback and Students' Writing: Focus and Nature
No full textA Master of Arts Thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Banan QAssim Al Kafri Entitled, "Teacher Written Feedback and Students' Writing: Focus and Nature," December 2010. Available are both Hard and Soft Copies of the Thesis.Over the last twenty years, the focus on the teaching of writing has shifted from product to process. Students' writings today undergo a series of drafting stages which teachers correct and comment on, and students need to revise these corrections and respond to them accordingly. Teacher written feedback, as a result, has emerged as a major component of the process approach and has received a great deal of attention recently (Morra & Asis, 2009). Casual observation of English teachers' practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) suggests that most teachers' written feedback tends to focus more on form (i.e. correctness of grammatical structures and mechanics) rather than on content (i.e. ideas, coherence, and organization). Consequently, students start to produce writings that are formally correct but have poor content. In addition, sometimes teachers' written comments seem to be vague or holistic in nature, which mostly results in unsuccessful revisions on the part of students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature and the focus of English teachers' written feedback on their students' papers. A second purpose was to examine the nature of students' responses to their teachers' written feedback. A third purpose was to examine the extent to which the participating teachers were satisfied with their students' responses to their comments. Thus, this study sought to answer the following three questions: (1) What is the nature and focus of teacher written feedback on students' writings? (2) What is it that students pay attention to while revising their drafts in light of their teachers' written feedback? (3) To what extent are teachers satisfied with their students' responses to their comments? In order to answer the above questions, students' writing samples of first and second drafts were collected and analyzed. Students' first drafts were collected to analyze teachers' comments on them in light of Ferris' (1997) model. Then, students' second drafts were collected with the purpose of understanding the nature of students' revisions based on their teachers' comments on their first drafts. Faigley and Witte's (1981) model was used to analyze students' revision changes. Finally, the assigned grades on both drafts were compared in order to measure the degree of teachers' satisfaction with their students' revisions. Following the analysis of teachers' comments on students' writing, follow-up interviews with the participating teachers and a sample of participating students (total of twenty) were conducted. Teachers' interviews were used to gain more insight about teachers' comments on students' papers as well as their degree of satisfaction of their students' writing. Results showed that both teachers focused while correcting their students on formal aspects of writing at the expense of content issues. As for the data collected from analyzing students' revisions, the findings revealed that the most frequent types of revision changes were formal changes. Whether teachers were satisfied with their students' revisions or not, the results showed that teachers were a little bit frustrated because they expected the second drafts to be much better and to contain more ideas and examples related to the chosen topic.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
The Questioning Behaviors of EFL Teachers in UAE High Schools
No full textA Master of Arts Thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Aaesha Saif Al Mazrooei Entitled, "The Questioning Behaviors of EFL Teachers in UAE High Schools," May 2010. Available are both Hard and Soft Copies of the Thesis.Language teachers ask many questions in their classrooms. Questioning is a very important and effective strategy for creating a communicative atmosphere at schools and promoting learning. Research in this area has investigated the various types of questions language teachers ask in their classrooms assuming that asking a variety of questions can help enhance the learning process. However, less research has looked at the manner (i.e., strategies) in which teachers ask questions in their classrooms as well as the effectiveness of these strategies on teaching and learning. The how of asking questions, in my opinion, may be just as important as the question itself, and therefore more research is needed to investigate this questioning dimension. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the manner in which teachers ask questions in their classrooms. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to answer two research questions: (1) what questioning strategies are being used by EFL teachers in UAE high schools, particularly in Ras Al Khaima (RAK), (2) are those teachers aware of such strategies and their usefulness in the learning process? In order to answer these two questions, a triangulation of research methods was utilized. These included classroom observation, unstructured interviews conducted with teachers, and a survey distributed to students. Generally, observed and interviewed teachers in this study showed a positive attitude towards the usage of questioning behaviors in their classrooms. The majority of them used questioning behaviors effectively as a warm up strategy in their lessons and to raise their students' interests and motivations.College of Arts and SciencesDepartment of EnglishMaster of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL
“Ahyaanan I text in English ‘ashaan it’s ashal ”: Language Crisis or Linguistic Development? The Case of How Gulf Arabs Perceive the Future of their Language, Culture, and Identity
No full textGulf Arabs are perceived as the most advanced of the Arabs in terms of state wealth, living standards, quality of life, education, and literacy levels for both men and women and overall opportunities availed to them by virtue of being citizens. In order for this advancement to have taken place the Gulf had to find a way of educating its people to international standards. One such way was the introduction of English in the education system at all levels and most importantly in higher education. Foreign workers from Europe, America, Canada, and Australia were brought in to assist in this moderni- zation process and the language of common communication became English. After two or three decades, there are now calls to revive Arabic and reduce the ef fect and impact of English, not only in the education system but in the everyday lives of Gulf Arabs, where the use of English in non-formal situations has become the norm. Some quarters are claiming that the Arabic language is at the beginning of its death and soon will have no speakers, if English continues to be promoted over Arabic, in the media, through domestic South Asian maids and nannies, and in the education system
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