Département d'Anglais

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The Algerian Middle School Writing Syllabus and its Implementation: A Case Study of some Teachers of Tizi-Ouzou.
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) DAOUD, Kahina
The following magister dissertation seeks to analyse the instructional writing plan as laid down in the Algerian Middle School syllabuses and as implemented inn the textbooks and delivered in the classroom. Accordingly, it has resorted to the evaluation of the writing syllabuses, the four Middle School course books and the teacher practice of the skills. To this end, we have appealed to the process theory of learning writing skills and strategies, textbook evaluation, classroom observation and the questionnaire technique. The aim behind the research is the evaluation of the instructional plan motivated by the rather weak results that brevet students obtained in English in 2007 and 2008. The writing skill being the medium through which students show their real competencies, in these exams, we have tried to examine and evaluate it in order to sort out the weaknesses and strengths in the instructional plan related to this skill. Our dissertation consists of two parts, divided into three parts each. One part is theoretical and the other is practical. In the theoretical part, we made a review of the literature where we have showed that writing theories have gradually moved to the recommendation of teaching writing as a process rather a product. In the second part, we have analysed in this order the syllabuses, the textbooks and the teacher practice. On the whole, we have concluded that the instructional plan related to the writing syllabuses, the textbooks and teacher practice contain positive points, but the idea of process is not sufficiently fleshed out in its three components. The syllabuses and the textbooks are basically task-based, but the tasks are mostly of the pedagogic type; the sequencing of the skills is too systematic and gives primacy to the spoken skills without regard to the students’ needs in terms of taking the Brevet Exam. The teacher profile is not taken into account since no teacher development syllabus is included in the syllabuses proper or in the textbooks. The whole impression is that of putting old wine into new bottles.
Analysis of Interlanguage in Algerian Brevet Papers in English: A Case Study of Learners in Tizi-Ouzou
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009) ISSELNANE, KARIMA;
This research is meant as a step in trying to understand how Algerian EFL learners construct interlanguage, which can be defined as a linguistic bridge between the learners’ first language and the language they are learning. It aims at determining the types of errors that are most recurrent, and their origins. Moreover, the purpose of the study is to classify and then analyse the types of writing errors that Algerian middle school pupils still make after the implementation of the third school reform undertaken in 2003. This work strives to contribute to understanding the sources of errors that are involved in the mental processes of EFL learners with Kabyle or Arabic L1s. 200 middle school pupils have participated in this study. After four years of English learning in the middle school, their level is supposed to be pre-intermediate. To conduct our research, we have sought our data from interviews written by Algerian middle school pupils during the first Brevet Exam held in 2007. The 655 total errors analysed in this study are divided into two main categories: interlingual errors and intralingual errors. Interlingual errors include spelling, auxiliaries, articles, pronouns, lexical and semantic errors, prepositions, and adjectives. Intralingual errors include wrong verb form, nouns, state verb concord, and subject-verb agreement. It is assumed that the causes of these errors are the result of the following: Interference from Kabyle or Arabic, interference from French, overgeneralisation, simplification, wrong hypothesis making, pupils’ inadequate knowledge regarding certain structures, the complexity of the English language, insufficient practice of grammatical rules, and the overwhelming pressure of the exam. The findings of this study indicate that first language interference still plays an important role in the learning process, since a major proportion of the errors are due to mother tongue interference. Furthermore, it reveals that the most important errors still made are those related to spelling, use of different auxiliaries and modal verbs, and wrong verb form. Suggestions are provided as to how to eliminate these errors in the second chapter.
Argument in American and British Cultural Studies Dissertations, Case Study: Mouloud MAMMERI University
(University Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2017-06-07) Lebiar, Khaled
This research explores the cultural variations in presenting, organizing, and reporting arguments in MA dissertations in Cultural Studies submitted and defended at the Department of English in the University of Mouloud MAMMERI of Tizi Ouzou. It builds on theoretical bearings explored by Robert Kaplan in his theory of Contrastive Rhetoric. However, this research, unlike Kaplan’s theory (which compares four cultural groups in relation to Anglophone cultures), is centered on the distinct traits of Arabic Rhetoric transferred by Algerian students of English as they compose in academic discourse. One finding highlighted at the level of this research is the “Intergenreality” found in Algerian dissertations, in which students abide to the broader conventional practice in the Anglo-American academia, while, on the narrower level, they unconsciously repudiate the same-practice rhetorical moves due to the inevitable influence of their first language/culture. The repetitive patterns found in Algerian students dissertations, from the boarder level of sections and paragraphs to the narrower one of sentences, clauses and even single words, make their argument more of a narrative and descriptive than its expected academic nature. Thus, Algerian students fail to present arguments that successfully and effectively communicate their notions and theses in the academic sphere.
Assia Djebar’s Fantasia, an Algerian Cavalcade (1985) and Yvonne Vera’s The Stone Virgins (2002): A Comparative Study
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2011) BENNAI, Kahina
This dissertation is concerned with the issue of feminism in two novels belonging to the postcolonial literature, by exploring feminine enunciation in the works of the Algerian writer Assia Djebar’s Fantasia, an Algerian Cavalcade (1985) and the Zimbabwean author Yvonne Vera’s The Stone Virgins (2002). It postulates that even though the lives of Algerian and Zimbabwean women were shaped by different historical forces and social traditions, common themes exist in their writings because of their common postcolonial background. Both Djebar and Vera examine the relations of women to history in a postcolonial setting, and disclose the double oppression women experienced during colonial and postcolonial times as colonized and gendered subjects. In exploring feminine enunciation in the two novels, we intend to compare the events evoked by the two writers, and to draw some similarities between the two struggles for independence provoked by the French and British colonial invaders and next, by the discourse of neo-nationalism in the two countries Algeria and Zimbabwe, respectively. This study also explores the two authors’ respective language and style. The colonial language and poetic style engaged in Djebar’s and Vera’s selected narratives negotiate the liberation of the subaltern in accordance with the basic ideas of postcolonial gendered subaltern, as articulated by Gayatri Spivak, in particular. One of the main themes in the works of Djebar and Vera is that of women’s body. Both writers impose the materiality of the female body and experience it within the contexts of colonialism, oppositional nationalism, and feminist discourses through details of sexual violence that the women of the colonized nation endured in colonial and post-independence periods.
Bridging the Gap: Language, Culture and Literature, (2011) An Evaluation of Literature Teaching and Testing Tasks
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2017) ZIANE, Hania
The attempt along this research was to identify the relation between literature teaching and testing in three English departments. In order to evaluate the pedagogical approaches and practices of the literature curriculum, we have analyzed the educational objectives of the literature tasks and tests. Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Educational Objectives has served as a theoretical basis for the analysis. The study examines the content and the type of the cognitive skills introduced in the literature textbook, Bridging the Gap: Language, Culture and Literature. In addition, the cognitive objectives that are assessed in the literature tests are classified according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. A comparative analysis between the objectives of the literature tasks and tests reveals that there is a significant divergence between the teaching approaches and the testing habits. The literature course emphasizes the understanding skills. The comprehension of the literary text and developing reading skills is the major objective of the literature course. However, the investigation on the testing habits reveals that higher cognitive performance is often required. The evaluative and analytical skills are the targets in the literature test. Accordingly, the results obtained from the research confirm the suggested hypothesis. The research shows that literature teaching and testing pose a didactic challenge in the EFL context, and in some Algerian English departments, there is a detachment between the course objectives and the testing expectations. The research also gives insight into some pedagogical procedures that bridge the teaching/testing gap.
The Clash of Civilizations Rhetoric in George W. Bush’s Speeches
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2016) SMAILI, Souad
The present dissertation demonstrates how the utilization of language is always manipulated to convey the purposes of the speaker in order to have an effect on the listener. Politicians, in particular, comprehend the power of words to explicate and justify acts, as well as to persuade people to support them, even if this support implies a risk to their lives. Based on this understanding, I have analyzed the selected speeches and declarations of former President of the United States, George W. Bush, starting from September 11, 2001 leading up to the 2003 attack on Iraq, with special emphasis on the way he makes use of metaphors. The aim of the analysis is to reveal the real and essential motivation for Bush’s thoughts and actions. Samuel P. Huntington’s idea of The Clash of Civilizations (1993) seems likely to be his foremost (hidden) motivation. Furthermore, I suggest that Orientalism is the most significant ideology standing behind Bush-Cheney’s War on Terror rhetoric. To demonstrate that, I have devoted a considerable attention to metaphors and cognitive metaphor theory developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980), metaphor criticism as presented by Lakoff (1991-2003) and Jonathan Charteris-Black (2005-2011). Metaphors are a very efficient means of presenting acts and actions in a manner that engages the audience and wins its sympathy, as they allow the speaker to identify himself/herself with the right and the good, and the enemy with the wrong and the evil. With the help of metaphors George W. Bush has succeeded in presented the events preceding the Iraqi war in a vague and often distorted value terms where assaults became preemptive defense, military invasion change of regime, war becomes peace, and occupation becomes humanitarian intervention.
A comparative Study between the Algerian New Prospects and the Tunisian Skills for Life: English Language Textbooks of the Last Year Secondary Education
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) Imerzoukéne, Sonia
The present work aims at comparing and contrasting two English language books designed for the Tunisian and Algerian students of the last year of secondary education-Skills for life and New Prospects- and the syllabuses on which they are based. Its major aim is to highlight the similarities and differences that exist between these two textbooks and the syllabuses they flesh out in relation with the CBA, an approach adopted in both countries. This objective is to be attained by analysing the language, social and technological skills and language aspects (grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation), then checking whether they are in conformity with the CBA principles. The study’s issue of the study is identified through six questions: Do the two textbooks reflect CBA assumptions and principles? Do the two syllabuses reflect and implement the CBA? Are there any similarities between the two textbooks’ content and procedures? Are there any similarities between the two syllabuses regarding design and content? Are the materials of both textbooks organized in a similar way? Do both countries aim at achieving similar terminal objectives at the end of the school year in question in particular and in secondary education in general? The analysis and comparison of the results has ended up in the following conclusions: The content of both textbooks is similar and conform to the CBA. The language skills are emphasised in both textbooks, though with a different presentation. The intercultural and socio-linguistic perspective lacks importance in both textbooks, though both syllabuses emphasise this aspect of language teaching. The approach adopted in both textbooks to teach the socio-linguistic dimension is not in conformity with CBA since there is no contrastive analysis between the culture of the students and that of English speaking countries, which does not comply with one of the major tenets of the CBA. Both textbooks and syllabuses give prominence to the writing skill regarding the fact that the school level in question ends with a national written examination based on written responses (baccalauréat) exam. Both syllabuses rely on task-based which is among the features of a CBA syllabus (the use of tasks). The Algerian syllabus unlike the Tunisian syllabus is project-based. Both of them aim at reaching similar objectives at teaching English secondary education terminal classes. Both of them are articulated around similar linguistic, methodological, and socio-cultural objectives. In both syllabuses the language skills, intercultural competence and technological skills are termed as strategies and the language aspects as functions and patterns to be mastered by the students. In general, the study indicates that the English language textbooks and syllabuses of both Tunisia and Algeria represent a similar designed work since many similarities are noticed with the consideration of the approach adopted and of the social differences existing between the two countries. The study, therefore, implies that further research about the English language textbooks and syllabuses between the different countries of the developing world would highlight findings of a paramount importance for these countries and the field of education.
A Contrastive Genre Analysis Study of Dissertation Introductions Written by Literature Postgraduates of Bejaia University and Natives.
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2017) ZERKA, Hakim
By way of investigating how the small cultures of discipline, genre and discourse community (Atkinson, 2004) directly impact NNS students’ writings, the present dissertation shows that the contrastive rhetoric hypothesis, stipulating that NNS students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds can be implicated as the etiology of the differences between English L1 and NNS students’ writings (Kaplan, 1966), is not valid in all situations and contexts. Using CARS model (Samraj, 2008), the present genre analysis study comparatively analyzes three sets of Literature Master’s dissertation introductions: four were composed by EFL students from Bejaia University, another four were written in Arabic by students from the department of Arabic of the same university and four introductions were written by English L1 students. Comparison of the generic structures of the three groups reveals that all three groups differently organize their introductions. More specifically, comparison of the English L2 and L1 introductions reveals differences in the move structure of the two groups. To check if these differences are due to students’ different backgrounds, English L2 and introductions in Arabic were compared. This comparison reveals that the two groups very significantly differ in how they rhetorically organize their texts. Using an interview to explain the differences between literature postgraduates of Bejaia University and the native ones, namely absence of step 1A of the first rhetorical move from English L2 texts and its presence in half of the native texts and predominance of move 3-step 1using inclusive we and the passive voice as hedging strategies in English L2 texts, and predominance of move 3-step 2B using I and the active voice as boosting strategies in the native introductions, the study shows that the discipline, the part-genre and the discourse community are three dynamic factors that shape students’ generic behavior. Besides offering a practical model for explicitly teaching the introduction part-genre to literature postgraduates of Bejaia University to raise their awareness of the rhetorical organization of this part-genre, the study shows the importance of the different factors that influence the EFL writing activity in the intercultural academic communication.
A Cross-cultural Study of Master Conclusions in English, Arabic and EFL Contexts: A Genre-based Approach
(University Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2017) Mohellebi, Hacene
The study of academic genres and part-genres across cultures and languages is gaining momentum among genre analysts and contrastive rhetoricians in many parts of the world. However, in the case of Algeria, this type of inquiry, despite having a vital pedagogical value for the EFL writing classroom, has been neglected. The present dissertation is an attempt to analyze cross-culturally the generic organization of the part-genre accompanying Master dissertations in literature, written by three distinct, yet overlapping, categories of students: native students of English, Algerian students of Arabic literature, and Algerian EFL students. For that end, I adopted Connor’s and Moreno’s (2005) model for cross-cultural studies of academic discourse and Bunton’s (2005) generic model for humanities and social sciences conclusions. The results of the analysis showed interesting insights regarding the rhetorical strategies that each group had employed in order to organize this partgenre of their dissertations. The English students’ organization was found largely congruent with Bunton’s model. This congruity includes both the status of the moves used and their rhetorical function in the text. Contrary to this, the Arabic conclusions were found practically inapplicable to the model, having demonstrated a striking divergence in terms of move status and move function to the extent that an alternative model was proposed to help explain and account for these differences. As regard the Algerian EFL conclusions, conforming to what the literature tells us on EFL writings, their schematic structure was found to follow what appears to be a ‘hybrid’ organization, borrowing rhetorical strategies from both native groups. Overall, it is believed that the factors influencing the organization of literature conclusions by English and Algerian students might be varied from the writing instructions and learning materials that each group receives and uses in the writing classroom to the different cultural attitudes towards what academic discourse implies in reality.
Cultural Incidents in Literary Texts: A Case Study of Edward Morgan Forster’s A Passage to India (1924)
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2017) Oueld Ahmed, Fatima
The present research investigates the importance of integrating culture in teaching literary texts. It highlights the place of culture in foreign language methodologies. Although culture teaching becomes a necessity in foreign language teaching, it is still dealt with as an adjunct in Algerian foreign language classrooms. This study proposes a model which integrates culture in teaching literature in foreign language classrooms. To achieve our aim, we apply the theoretical concepts proposed in the “Culture Bump Theory” to the analysis of cultural differences in E. M. Forster‘s A Passage to India. By conducting a didactic analysis, the following work clarifies the need for integrating cultural elements in teaching foreign languages. Teaching culture is necessary in raising cultural awareness as well as in eliminating the frustration, disconnection and cultural misunderstanding
Eco-Marxism, Deep Ecology and Wilderness in Joy Harjo’s Selected Poems: An Ecocritical Reading
(Université Mouloud Mammeri, 2022) AIT MEDJBER Katia; FAHEM Zahia
Based on Joy Harjo’s poems “A Map to the Next World”(2000) from an eponymous book, “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet” and “Talking with the Sun” from Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (2015), “ Remember” and “ In Praise of Earth” from How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems (1975-2001), this dissertation intended to demonstrate the way the poet portrays nature and its relation with humans. Adopting Ecocriticism approach and its tropes, this research attempted to analyse the forms and the contents of the poems with reference to the poet’s cultural background. The poet dealt with ecopoetry to illustrate the nature of the relationship between the human and the non-human world. Indeed, the present dissertation attempted to explore the main aspects of Eco-Marxist on the poem “A Map to the Next World”. Harjo reminded us through her poem that modern capitalist ideologies caused alienation from nature, leading to the destruction of the environment. This paper discussed also the concepts of deep ecology, self-realization and ecological egalitarianism. This study showed that Harjo’s poetry contributed in connecting humans with their natural world, and created better understanding of how all living creatures work together to maintain life on earth.
Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story and Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker: Theatre of the Absurd or Theatre of Language?
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou Faculty of Letters and Humanities, 2012-05-29) BERDJANE, Ouiza
This dissertation is a discursive study of two twentieth-century plays which have been characterized as absurdist: The Zoo Story by Edward Albee and The Caretaker by Harold Pinter.The study examines the dialogues of the characters from linguistic perspectives in order to account for the way the language of the characters causes violence effects in the two selected plays, and the way the characters’ identity expressed by their discourse.The study seeks also to give more insights on those assumptions in the existing critical literature which insists on the ‘devaluation of language’ and ‘meaninglessness’ of dialogues in the two plays. The analysis in this study is based on Grice’s theory of Conversational Implicature, the constructionists’ assumptions about the identity formation, and the pertinent literature on the issue of violence. The analytic observations about the data focus on the various ways in which the characters fail to observe the Cooperative Principle and its four attendant Maxims, namely the maxim of quantity, quality, relation, and manner, and on the generated meaning from the chaaracters’ flouting of the previous maxims. The study reveals that the identity of the characters is expressed thanks to the playwrights’s violation of the Cooperative Priciple. The violence effects in the two plays also turn to be the result of the playwright’s effective use of the Cooperative Principle by elaborating the characters’ flouting of the four conversational Maxims. Finally, the study demonstrates how the critics miss the interesting point about the unconventional use of language in their assumptions about the language in the Theatre of the Absurd, and how the Theatre of the Absurd deserves to be labeled The Theatre of Language.
English Language Assessment in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools: A Context Evaluation.
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou Faculty of Letters and Humanities, 2011) AOUINE, Akli
The following work tackles the issue of assessment in the Algerian Middle and Secondary schools. More specifically, it seeks to examine the place of assessment and the way it is implemented in the Middle School syllabuses and textbooks. Also, two of the Secondary School course books; that is, Getting Through and New Prospects. In addition, it evaluates the BEM and the BAC tests to check whether they meet the criteria of a good test and the corresponding levels of their items in Bloom’s taxonomy. To this end, we have conducted our research which is a ‘context evaluation’ in the light of the ‘Mastery Learning Approach’ and ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy’. Accordingly, our study identifies the main weaknesses and strengths of the aforementioned materials. First, the syllabuses stress the importance of assessment above all formative assessment. This is a noticeable positive point. However, we found that the syllabuses do not include comprehensible hints which show how such formative assessment including self-and peer assessment can be carried out systematically and effectively, nor do they (syllabuses) include assessment criteria specific to each year of study, or well-elaborated grading system, etc. As regards the Middle School textbooks, we have noted that the latter include assessment sections made up of many activities. This is a good aspect. Nevertheless, the textbooks adopt the three Ps approach and their assessment activities are designed in a summative way and they often overemphasise language structures and discrete-point items. Moving to the two Secondary School textbooks mentioned above, it appears that they merely include assessment grids with a multiplicity of items to be ticked by the students. Last but not least, the BEM and the BAC tests are mainly of discrete-point items and they particularly target the lowerorder skills and they lack reliability and construct validity. Finally, we have tried to include suggestions that can be used as remediation for the insufficiencies of the materials we evaluated.
Family and Anti- Family in Selected Novels by Thomas Hardy
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009) BENSAFI, Fatiha
This dissertation is an attempt to examine Thomas Hardy’s Marxist ideas in tackling family issues. It implies that the author did not stand apart from the new thoughts brought by socialist philosophers, and venture to say that he was their mouthpiece. Hardy’s questioning of the bourgeois family and the heralding of the Marxist views such as Engels’ in the Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, are conveyed by portraying families completely different from the Victorian cliché. Hardy’s portrayal suggests his divergence from the views of that time. He seems against the idealisation of the family which he depicts as an economic institution governed by the patriarchal –capitalist ideology and man’s dominance. I have tried to make it explicit that Hardy’s criticism of the capitalist system and the Bourgois family has known a gradual development. I have suggested that it is through the Mayor of Casterbridge , Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure that one can trace the ways Hardy both scrutinizes and questions the Victorian family within a capitalist ideology by examining family kinship and human relationship. In addition, conjugal problems and family burden are two major elements tackled in the novels stated above. The analysis of the Mayor of Casterbridge is an attempt to show the author’s anxiety about the system which gives the husband the absolute right to sell his wife and daughter. In the study of Tess of the D’Urbervilles, I have tried to render the author’s overt protest against capitalism and patriarchy by which the lower class is exploited by the bourgeoisie and children by their parents. The analysis of Jude the Obscure is devoted to the examination of Hardy’s overt attack on the marital laws and his seemingly advocation of free cohabitation and the abolition of the family. Yet Hardy’s confusing attitude can be grasped in the three analysed novels. In the Mayor of Castrebrigde, the author presents the most striking scene in the Victorian literature; the wife Sale scene. It is thanks to this that one can notice his hostility towards the patriarchal system. Nevertheless the end of the novel reveals Hardy’s enculturation of the same Victorian values. Indeed Farfrea’s marriage with Elisabeth –Jane is a genuine picture of a bourgeois marriage. In Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the author portrays Tess as a fallen woman who deserves punishment, and in Jude the Obscure, though at the beginning, he exposes liberal ideas concerning women and family, at the end, the author reproduces the same Victorian ethics which he has criticised earlier. This is due to the weight of the rigid values which the novelist cannot transcend easily.
Gender, Race and Generation in Algerian Secondary School Textbooks
(2011) Boukheddad, Chafiaa
The present research is an attempt to evaluate the Algerian new reform-based English Textbooks designed for Secondary School Education with regards to gender, race and generation. Our particular interest in conducting a Magistér dissertation on these issues was triggered by the function that school textbooks have as“powerful agents of socialization”. It can be argued that coursebooks, with all their aspects, have the power of altering students’opinions and beliefs on many socio-cultural matters such as gender, race and generation since the majority of classroom teaching is carried out by the use of them.In relation to this, critical theorists reject the claim that schooling constitues a valu-neutral process and argue that schools often operate with the intent to reproduce the values and privileges of the dominant culture (Darder, 1991). Hence,school textbooks have effects on students’cognitive and emotional formation. Therefore, recent trends in English Language Teaching (ELT) research necessitates the study of coursebooks and instructional materials from various perspectives including their cultural, social, and psychological qualities and effects (Kramsch 2000). Gender, race and generation as represented in school textbooks are worth studying because students are exposed to many words and images effecting their knowledge, perceptions and world views. It is believed that by focusing on how characters are portrayed in an EFL textbook , an infinte number of messages or values are passed on to students. Such values, then, may turn into stereotypical thinking of students towards others in society, inevitably building onto the malpractices such as hatred, intolerance, or belittling of others. Therefore, Our intention in the research at hand is to unveil the way characters:Female, male, groups minorities and elders are represented in the new manuals since one of the aims of the latest reform is to promote values and not demote them. To reach this aim, Sadker and Sadker‘s seven categories of II bia(invisibility, stereotypes, linguistic bias,unreality, fragmentation, selectivity and cosmetic bias) were used as our theoritical starting to investigate and explore the different forms of bias that may be found in At the Crossroads, Getting Through and New Prospects designed for S1, S2 and S3 Respectively. To realize our research,both quantitative and qualitative analysis were performed. Through content anlysis (CA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) the results obtained have displayed that the textbooks in question are far from being bias-free with regards to all the aspects selected for evaluation. It has been found that there is a significant tendency to underrepresent females, ethnic groups and elders. The invisibility of these characters is recorded both in text and illustrations. The findings further show some stereotypes especially concerning the aspects of occupations and personal traits. Additionally,both quantitative and qualitaive analysis have confirmed the presence of these forms of bias (selectivity, fragmentation, unreality, cosmetic bias). As far as linguistic bias is concerned, it has been observed that the authors of the textbooks have been sensitive in their use of language in the portrayal of ethnic groups and elders. Furthermore, there is a remarkable tendency to use an inclusive and neutral language in the description of both genders. On the basis of these findings ,we come to the conclusion that that authors of the textbooks were not guided by specific checklists that would prevent the production of biased instructional materials. Hence, it is highly recommended for the Algerian Ministry of Education to elaborate checklists for identifying bias,because, besides the overt role schools play on students ‘mental development, there is also an implicit and “covert message” that the school endorses to students.
A Genre Analysis Study of Algerian Magister Dissertations in Linguistics and Didactics: The Case of English Department of the University of Algiers
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009) Amara, Farida
The investigation of generic discourse in academic writing is gaining a sweeping interest among genre analysts. However, research into post-graduate writing as a genre is still in its infancy. This study is an attempt to analyse the genre of Magister dissertations produced by Algerian post-graduates in Linguistics and Didactics at the University of Algiers. The analysis is meant to investigate the schematic structures of three part-genres: Introductions, Abstracts and Acknowledgements and compare them to what was reported in similar genre studies. To reach this aim, I employed, as starting theoretical frameworks, Samraj’s (2008) 3-move CARS model developed for Master’s theses introductions, Samraj’s (2002) move structure of Abstracts and Hyland and Tse’s (2004) move pattern of Acknowledgments. It was found that the introductions do not share a common rhetorical structure and only half the texts supported Samraj (2008) framework. Furthermore, Move 2 and 3 were more commonly found than move 1 and new steps were identified in the first and the third move. The corpus of abstracts displayed a rhetorical structure similar to that proposed by Samraj (2002) although an additional move was identified. The acknowledgments’ move pattern, in turn, was quite different from Hyland and Tse’s model (2004). In fact, almost all the acknowledgements were framed around a unique thanking move instead of three moves. Overall, some shared shaping forces are behind the students’ rhetorical practices such as: the discourse community in which the genre occurs, the nature of the DIs’ discipline and lack of formal instruction in dissertation writing. Therefore, post-graduate students of the English Department of Algiers need an explicit learning of the dissertation genre in order to raise their awareness of the genre characterising features and help them make informed writing choices.
Harold Pinter, Edward Albee and LeRoi Jones: Their Ideas of the Absurd
(Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou, 2009-03) Abdelli Fatima
This present research paper has explored the Theatre of the Absurd in two communities as represented by three dramatists, Harold Pinter from England and Edward Albee and LeRoi Jones from the United States of America. What is sought is the analysis of the absurdist aspects of their plays and their worlds. My dissertation fell into four-chapters. In the first chapter, I have singled out the principal aspects of the philosophy of the Absurd and the Theatre of the Absurd. The emphasis was put on the aspects that are applicable on the plays under study: Pinter‟s The Caretaker, Albee‟s The Zoo Story and Jones‟s Dutchman. In the second chapter, I have focused in particular on the study of the main themes, characters, as well as language in Pinter‟s The Caretaker. His message, which consists in showing the absurdity of his characters‟ existence, is transmitted through different techniques. I have followed the same method in the third chapter, where I have studied Albee‟s The Zoo Story. Albee‟s aim is to convince people that our indifference and alienation results in the fact that our behaviour is analogous to that of animals inside a zoo. The last chapter of this simple work is devoted to the analysis of Jones‟s Dutchman. The latter exposes the absurd behaviour and revolt of a black American in front of his oppressor. His confrontation to his condition results in his death. Consequently, the main character represents any oppressed man on earth, and so his death is a sacrifice meant to motivate his fellowmen. The four chapters are followed by a general conclusion that summarizes the universal or international aspects of the philosophy and the Theatre of the Absurd explored in the three plays. I concluded by saying that although Pinter, Albee, and Baraka represent two or three different communities, their works show similar situations of real characters who behave in an absurd way. Finally, I closed by saying that the three dramatists share universal themes and characters in their drama, and that these characters are just samples that can exist in any society in the world.
The Idea of Post-War America in Selected Novels by John Steinbeck and John Dos Passos
(2011) KHOUDI, Mohamed Amine;
This dissertation attempts to study the idea of the ‘Other’ according to John Dos Passos (1896-1970) and John Steinbeck (1902-1968). We have analyzed the position of the two authors towards major post-war issues. Throughout our thesis, we have referred to the numerous social, racial, gender, political, and economic issues that arose as a result of the aftermath of the First World War. Our appropriation of the New Historicist theory has enabled us to make a historical and literary diagnosis of John Dos Passos’s case and John Steinbeck’s fiction. We have endeavored to demonstrate that both Dos Passos and John Steinbeck share the same idea, position, and vision towards a fragmented, class-based, ‘white supremacist’ and capitalist post-war America. To reach our objective, we have selected some ‘target’ novels that will be decisive throughout our analysis. These novels are Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat (1935), Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and John Dos Passos’ trilogy U.S.A (1938). The study of Of Mice and Men and Dos Passos’ U.S.A is investigated from the perspective of racial discrimination and gender issues. Indeed, the Hispanic community of Tortilla Flat, the unique black character of the novella Of Mice and Men ‘Crooks’ ,and the two Italian Italian-born anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti experience the same hatred, racism, and discrimination. In addition, we investigated women status within post-war American society. This study also explores another post-war theme,i.e, the struggle proletariat vs. big business, this proletariat theme is an influential part of Dos Passos’ trilogy U.S.A and Steinbeck’s epic novel The Grapes of Wrath. Our ‘proletariat’ reading attempts to demonstrate that the two authors share the idea that post-war America is composed of twonations; one of them belongs to the rich and privileged and the other one to the have-not and the powerless
Implementation of the Principles of CLT for the Teaching of English in the Algerian Middle School: Textbooks Evaluation
(university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou, 2010) FEDOUL, Malika
Textbook evaluation, in the last three decades, has received much interest among applied linguists. In Algeria also textbook evaluation is witnessing a growing interest, especially after the general educational reform launched by the Algerian educational authorities, starting from 2001. The present study is an attempt to investigate the implementation of the CLT principles in the Algerian Middle School textbooks of English. The analysis is meant to investigate the implementation of communication principle (communicative methodology), tasks, the four language skills, culture and authenticity principles. To achieve this goal, we have employed the following theoretical frameworks: Littlewoods’s (1981) model for the weak version of CLT, Brumfit’s (1980) framework for the strong version of CLT, Nunan’s (1989) framework for communicative tasks, methodological steps for developing listening and reading skills adapted from Harmer (2003), activities to develop speaking skills adapted from Harmer (2001), and stages for teaching writing adapted from Sarosdy (2006). In order to evaluate the implementation of the cultural component, we have borrowed a model proposed by Mairitsch (2003) adapted from Byram (2000). Finally, the authenticity evaluation checklist is adapted from Widdowson (1983) and Kramsch (1993). The analysis of the methodology used in the textbooks to achieve communicative competence revealed that the approach is similar to that proposed by Littlewood (1981). The tasks are varied; while some of them meet the requirements of communicative tasks proposed by Nunan (1989) others do not. The analysis of the four skills displayed divergences in the methodology used for the teaching of the four skills in the four, mainly, listening and reading. Culture components proposed by Mairitsch (2003) are all included in the textbooks; however, Spotlight on English One and Two lack sociocultural skills component. Most of the texts included in the textbooks do not contain the characteristics of authentic texts and proposed by Widdowson (1983) and Kramsch (1993), mostly they are either non-authentic or simplified. It was argued that textbook designers need to take into account the shortcomings that might hinder achieving the aim of teaching English in the Algerian Middle School, which is communicative competence. More consideration, we think, should be given to develop communicative skills in reading and writing in Book 1 and 2 and the integration of more authentic and genuine texts. Key words: communicative syllabus, textbook evaluation, communicative competence, CLT, communicative methodology, tasks, the four skills, culture, authenticity. x
Investigating Attitudes Toward Literature and Movies: Second Year LMD Students of English at UMMTO
(University Mouloud MAMMERI, Tizi-Ouzou, 2016) MORSLI, Lynda
This research probes into the Algerian students’ attitudes to culture in movies and literature within the context of the literature and film studies classroom. Inspired by critical categories from cultural anthropology, and deploying a mixed method approach combining classroom observation, interview and questionnaires. It shows that students’ attitudes are hugely shaped by the native culture, most notably, the culture of shame which makes most students resist the predominantly popular culture of British and American movies, as well as the erotic dimensions of classical novels such as Jane Eyre. The degree of resistance varies from student to student according to the amount of exposure to the target culture and reading experience of the students. the latter, move generally from cultural resistance to cultural negotiation

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