Facaulty of Art

Legal translation of contract agreements is a challenge to translators as it involves combining the literary translation with the technical terminological precision. In translating legal contract agreements, a legal translator must utilize the lexical or syntactic precision and, more importantly, the pragmatic awareness of the context. This will guarantee an overall communicative process and avoid inconsistency in legal translation. However, the inability of the translator to meet these two functions in translating the contract item not only affects the contractors’ comprehension of the contract item but also affects the parties’ contractual obligations. In light of this, the purpose of this study was to find out how legal collocations used in contract agreements are translated from Arabic into English by student-translators in terms of (1) purely technical, (2) semi-technical, and (3) everyday vocabulary collocations. For the data collection, a multiple-choice collocation test was ...

Towards auto didacticism in the learning of English language in Malaysian universities, students are required to do oral presentations as an academic task such as presentations of articles reviews, book chapter summaries and mini or final project proposals. To conduct these

Communicating appropriately in a target language (English language) requires both ESL Malaysian learners and their counterparts Arab EFL learners to develop linguistic and pragmatic awareness in the target language. One aspect of such development is their use of linguistic hedges to modify their speech acts and realize politeness. However, little attention has been given to investigate these learners’ linguistic and pragmatic use of these devices. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap in the literature by conducting a study that examines the use of hedges in relation to politeness between these two groups of learners while exchanging their opinions in focused group discussions created on WhatsApp application. To this end, the current study used a descriptive design that employed quantitative and qualitative methods to identify the types, frequency, and pragmatic functions of hedges in relation to politeness. The sample consisted of four EFL Arab learners and five Malaysian ESL learners who study English in a Malaysian university. The data collected in forms of comments by means of focused group discussions were coded and analyzed based on Fraser’s (2010) Taxonomy of English Hedges. They were then uploaded to Excel to find the frequency and percentages of the types of hedges used. This was followed by a detailed pragmatic analysis based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Theory. The findings showed that both types of learners use hedges in stating their opinions. However, they use different categories and hedges types and realize politeness differently.

Towards auto didacticism in the learning of English language in Malaysian universities, students are required to do oral presentations as an academic task such as presentations of articles reviews, book chapter summaries and mini or final project proposals. To conduct these classroom oral presentations, students usually employ a number of technological aids and resources such as computers, overhead projectors and Microsoft PowerPoint software to create their slides. In fact, conducting coherent oral presentations goes beyond the use of technology to include appropriate use of linguistic devices called discourse markers. However, the absence or misuse of these markers in oral presentation would not only affect the flow of the ideas, coherence of speech and organization of facts but might also alter the intended message of the presenter. The objective of this study was to shed light on the use of these markers by focusing on the types and functions of these markers. For this purpose, ...

Communicating appropriately in a target language (English language) requires both ESL Malaysian learners and their counterparts Arab EFL learners to develop linguistic and pragmatic awareness in the target language. One aspect of such development is their use of linguistic hedges to modify their speech acts and realize politeness. However, little attention has been given to investigate these learners’ linguistic and pragmatic use of these devices. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap in the literature by conducting a study that examines the use of hedges in relation to politeness between these two groups of learners while exchanging their opinions in focused group discussions created on WhatsApp application. To this end, the current study used a descriptive design that employed quantitative and qualitative methods to identify the types, frequency, and pragmatic functions of hedges in relation to politeness. The sample consisted of four EFL Arab learners and five Malaysian E...

Student-supervisor consultation is an essential academic requirement for Arab EFL male and female students to pass their postgraduate degree in Malaysian universities. During these consultations, students negotiate with their supervisors about their theses or final projects. However, these consultations form a challenge to these students as they need to demonstrate appropriate linguistic knowledge while corresponding to their supervisors' comments and corrections. One aspect of the linguistic challenge is the use of boosters as any over or misuse of these devices can be interpreted as inappropriate behavior, thus might affect the student-supervisor relationships and cause communication breakdown. The purpose of this study was to determine the types, frequencies, and functions of boosters in relation to gender as used by these students during the academic consultations. The data were collected by means of eight naturally occurring consultations and a pragmatic knowledge questionnaire and then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings showed that the students used a variety of boosting devices with the intensifying adverbs, style adjuncts, and factive verbs being the most frequent. The gender analysis revealed differences in the types and counts of boosters with the male students generally using significantly higher frequencies of boosters than the female students. The pragmatic analysis showed that the Arab students used boosters strategically to reinforce their speech, so that they show their knowledge and appear more convincing. Further, the use of the boosters was not meant by the students to express polite or impolite behaviors, but it was mainly an appropriate politic behavior.

Student-supervisor consultation is an essential academic requirement for Arab EFL male and female students to pass their postgraduate degree in Malaysian universities. During these consultations, students negotiate with their supervisors about their theses or final projects. However, these consultations form a challenge to these students as they need to demonstrate appropriate linguistic knowledge while corresponding to their supervisors' comments and corrections. One aspect of the linguistic challenge is the use of boosters as any over or misuse of these devices can be interpreted as inappropriate behavior, thus might affect the student-supervisor relationships and cause communication breakdown. The purpose of this study was to determine the types, frequencies, and functions of boosters in relation to gender as used by these students during the academic consultations. The data were collected by means of eight naturally occurring consultations and a pragmatic knowledge questionnaire and then analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings showed that the students used a variety of boosting devices with the intensifying adverbs, style adjuncts, and factive verbs being the most frequent. The gender analysis revealed differences in the types and counts of boosters with the male students generally using significantly higher frequencies of boosters than the female students. The pragmatic analysis showed that the Arab students used boosters strategically to reinforce their speech, so that they show their knowledge and appear more convincing. Further, the use of the boosters was not meant by the students to express polite or impolite behaviors, but it was mainly an appropriate politic behavior.