IJAES - Vol 15 - 2014.pdf

IJAES INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARABIC-ENGLISH STUDIES Volume 15 2014 PUBLICATION OF THIS VOLUME IS FUNDED BY ZARQA UNIVERSITY IN JORDAN, THE HOST OF THE JOURNAL PERMANENT OFFICE Librairie du Liban Publishers ____________________________________________________ The Association of Professors of English and Translation (APETAU) www.apetau.com

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol.15, 2014 IJAES: International Journal of Arabic-English Studies Aims and Scope The aim of this international refereed journal is to promote original research into cross-language and cross-cultural studies in general, and Arabic-English contrastive and comparative studies in particular. Within this framework, the journal welcomes contributions to such areas of interest as comparative literature, contrastive textology, contrastive linguistics, lexicology, stylistics, and translation studies. The journal is also interested in theoretical and practical research on both English and Arabic as well as in foreign language education in the Arab world. Reviews of important, up-to- date, relevant publications in English and Arabic are also welcome. In addition to articles and book reviews each issue usually has room for notes, discussion and relevant academic presentations and reports. These may consist of comments, statements on current issues, short reports on ongoing research, or short replies to other articles. The International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) is the forum of debate and research for the Association of Professors of English and Translation at Arab Universities (APETAU). However, contributions from scholars involved in language, literature and translation across language communities are invited. The journal, which first appeared in 2000, is published once a year by Librairie du Liban Publishers. It is listed in the MLA Directory of Periodicals and has the serial number ISSN: 1680-0982. Authors’ Guide & Correspondence Contributors are requested to read the Authors' Guide included in this volume or visit IJAES Home Page www.ijaes.org . For correspondence please see inside back cover. Published by Librairie du Liban Publishers for the Association of Professors of English and Translation at Arab Universities (APETAU)

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol.15, 2014 International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Editor -in- Chief Jihad Hamdan University of Jordan Associate Editor Mahmoud F. Al-Shetawi University of Jordan Assistants to the Editor May Maalouf Lebanese University Wafa Abu Hatab Zarqa University - Jordan Advisory Editorial Board Samira Aghacy Shehdeh Fareh Lebanese American University University of Sharjah Abdulla Al-Dabbagh Tahrir Hamdi UAE University Arab Open University Murtada Bakir Hashim Noor University of Jordan Taibah University Rajai Al-Khanji Carl James University of Jordan University of Wales Saleh Al-Salman Fawwaz Al-abed Al-haq Arab Open University Yarmouk University Abdallah Al-Shunnaq Yasir Suleiman Yarmouk University Cambridge University Omar Atari John McDonald UAE University University of Portland Mohammed Farghal Najwa Nasr Kuwait University Lebanese University Jacek Fisiak Naji Oueijan Adam Mickiewicz University Notre Dame University Lilith Haynes Rula Quawas Harvard University University of Jordan Asmaa Ghaith Zahra Awad Ain Shams University University of Jordan

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol.15, 2014 Librairie du Liban Publishers & The Association of Professors of English and Translation at Arab Universities (APETAU). www.apetau.com ©All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. ISSN 1680 - 0982 ISBN 978 - 614 - 422 - 523 - 3

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol.15, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES Shehdeh Fareh: Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language 7 Teaching Deema Ammari: ‘Bed Rest’ Challenged: A Liberating 27 Treatment in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ Mats Oscarson: Making Connections in a Changing World: A 39 European Language Education and Assessment Perspective Mohammad Al-Taher: Translating Qur’anic Past Tense 51 Structures Which Speak about the Hereafter Samah Abu Marzouk: Introduction to Arabic Literary 65 Journalism: A Critical Study Alla Zareva and Asmaa Shehata: At the intersection of L1 77 congruence and L2 exposure: Collocational knowledge of advanced Arab users of English Aziz Thabit Saeed: Contextual Considerations in the Use of 103 Synonymous Verbs: The Case of Cease, End, Finish and Stop Ahmad Al-Harahsheh: Measure Terms in Rural Jordanian 121 Spoken Arabic Omaima Ismail, Sane Yagi and Bassam Hammo: Corpus 135 Linguistic Tools for Historical Semantics in Arabic Abdulla Al-Dabbagh: Literary Studies between Theory and 153 Fallacy Authors’ Guide and Tansliteration Symbols 161 The views and ideas expressed in papers and discussions published in IJAES are those of their authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor-in-chief, the associate editor or members of the advisory editorial board. Nor do they necessarily reflect the views of the publishers.

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol.15, 2014

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching Shehdeh Fareh University of Sharjah, UAE Abstract: Language is often simply defined as a means of communication. However, communication is a highly complex and intricate process that involves an adequate mastery of a number of linguistic and non-linguistic components. Knowing a language that can effectively be used for successful communication includes, among other things, attaining a functional knowledge of the various language systems including the syntactic system, or the grammar of the language in the narrow sense of the term. The scope of traditional grammar has been confined to sentence structure. That is probably why this approach to grammar has been referred to as sentence-based grammar. However, teaching this form of grammar contributes to the development of learners’ grammatical competence rather than to their communicative ability. This paper argues for integrating discourse grammar in language teaching, and provides evidence to support the role that discourse grammar plays in developing foreign language learners’ communicative competence. Specifically, this paper attempts to answer the following questions: (1) What does it mean to know a language? (2) What are the differences between sentence-based grammar and discourse grammar? (3) Why do foreign language teachers, curriculum designers and textbook writers accord more prominence to sentence-based grammar than to discourse grammar in teaching foreign languages? (4) What extra linguistic aspects does discourse grammar offer to language teaching that sentence-based grammar does not? In other words, what are the justifications for incorporating discourse grammar in foreign language teaching? Keywords: discourse grammar, sentence-based grammar, language teaching 1. Introduction Language is often defined as a means of communication. This means that we learn or teach language in order to understand what others say and to make ourselves understood in relevant contexts, using the two major modes of communication which are speech and writing. The ability to use language for such a purpose consists of two principal abilities: the linguistic ability and the communicative ability or competence. The linguistic ability means attaining an adequate level of mastery of the microlinguistic systems of language including the phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic components. Although developing a good command of these systems is a necessity and a prerequisite for language learning, it is not sufficient for effective communication. In fact, if we assume that the major goal of learning a language is to use it as a means of communication, the learner still needs a lot to learn. In the process of communicating with others, foreign language learners not only need to be able to say or write something that is grammatically and phonologically well-formed 7

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... (linguistic ability), but they also need to accord appropriate attention to interpersonal relationships with their interlocutors (discourse ability), and here emerges the role of context in the process of communication. In order to engage in successful communicative acts and avoid communication failures or breakdowns, interlocutors should always be aware of who says what to whom, when, where, how and why. These questions sum up the contextual factors relevant to the process of successful communication. In addition, these questions refer to verbal (linguistic) and non-verbal (non-linguistic) features in the process of communication. This clearly reveals that communication and language acquisition are highly complex processes that require the learner to develop not only his linguistic competence, but also other essential competences. A cursory glance at foreign language teaching materials, textbooks and teaching practices will reveal that they are not sufficient for turning out communicatively competent foreign language learners. This can be partly attributed to focusing on teaching grammar in the traditional sense, pronunciation and vocabulary. This paper proceeds as follows: Section 2 attempts to delineate what it means to learn a language and differentiates between the types of competences that foreign language learners need. The distinctions between sentence grammar and discourse grammar will be explicated in section 3. Section 4 provides a rationale for incorporating discourse grammar in language pedagogy. The manifestations of discourse grammar and how they can be integrated in language teaching will be presented in section 5. Finally, section 6 will be devoted to the conclusion and a few relevant recommendations. 2. What does it mean to learn a language? One of the most complex tasks that a human being can learn is language be it the mother tongue or the second language because the process of language learning involves acquiring a number of interrelated linguistic and non-linguistic aspects. In this regard, Ellis (1986:5) holds that: Second language acquisition refers to all aspects of language that the language learner needs to master. However, the focus has been on how L2 learners acquire grammatical sub-systems, such as negatives or interrogatives, or grammatical morphemes such as the plural {s} or the definite and indefinite articles. Research has tended to ignore other levels of language. In this statement, Ellis refers to the inadequate teaching practices in foreign language learning that are common among many language teaching practitioners in different parts of the world. This inadequacy can be partially attributed to the fact that such teachers primarily focus on teaching the microlinguistic aspects of language that are manifest in teaching the various details of the grammatical system as well as pronunciation and vocabulary lists. They also focus on developing grammatical correctness of sentences rather than on fluency and communicative functionality. However, for learners to be communicatively functional in the foreign language, their competence should exceed this level of learning and go beyond the scope of the linguistic 8

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 competence. Knowing a language involves a number of competences that have to be developed hand in hand. These competences have been investigated by many language acquisition researchers including Hymes, 1966; 1972; Savignon, 1997; Ellis, 1986; Leung, 2005; Karimnia and Marziyeh 2007; Armostis, 2013. The following are the most common types of competences that have received common consensus among language acquisition researchers. 2.1. Linguistic competence This type of competence refers to the learner’s knowledge of the language system including its rules that govern the formation of phrases, clauses and sentences. Moreover, it refers to knowledge of word order patterns (grammar in the narrow sense), rules of word formation through inflection and derivation (morphology), rules of sound patterns and permissible and impermissible sound combinations (phonetics and phonology), ways of signaling meaning and sense relations between lexical items of the language (semantics). Linguistic competence may also include the orthographic conventions of the target language. These are the microlinguistic abilities that foreign language teaching practices as well as foreign language textbooks usually focus on without according parallel attention to other competences. That is why foreign language learners usually attain a higher level of competence in these specific abilities than their overall communicative competence. In practical terms, this means that foreign language learners may be able to produce grammatically correct sentences, know the meaning of single words, and pronounce words and phrases without being equally competent in the overall process of communication that involves more than the linguistic competence. This sentence-based grammar, although essential to language learning, does not usually lead to the acquisition of communicative competence. The focus on sentence grammar, rather than on discourse grammar, was manifest in several language teaching methodologies and approaches, including the Grammar Translation Method and the Audio- Lingual Method whose major concern was to enable foreign language learners to produce grammatically correct sentences with native like pronunciation. Several language teaching and acquisition researchers criticize sentence- based grammar that primarily leads to the development of linguistic competence. For example, Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei (1997) hold that “L2 learners often develop grammatical competence in the absence of concomitant pragmatic competence.” 2.2. Sociolinguistic competence This type of competence refers to the learner’s ability to use the language properly in sociocultural settings. It includes the ability of the foreign language learner to attain an adequate level of mastery of the rules that enables the learner to express himself and understand others in culturally and socially acceptable contexts. For communication to be successful, the learner needs to be aware of the rules of language use, contextual factors pertaining to the topic, the interlocutors, their age, gender, status and level of education. Furthermore, 9

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... foreign language learners need to learn the principles of politeness. That is to say, learners should know how to express themselves politely by learning the norms of polite expression and avoiding impolite ones. Furthermore, they need to learn the norms of political correctness in the process of interacting with others by avoiding the forms of expression that may socially or culturally be understood as implying offence or exclusion of others. This type of competence is often referred to as the pragmatic competence that encompasses the ability of the foreign language learner to use the language in culturally appropriate settings. Hymes (1972:277) states that “...a normal child acquires knowledge of sentences not only as grammatical, but also as appropriate. He or she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner. In short, a child becomes able to accomplish a repertoire of speech acts, to take part in speech events, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others.” Pragmatic competence involves acquiring a number of skills, chief among which are the following: 2.2.1. Using language to express different functions Such functions include narrating, thanking, greeting, offering, apologizing, promising, inviting, requesting, asking, accepting, rejecting, suggesting, offering assistance, advising, criticizing, expressing likes and dislikes, and expressing wishes, etc. Language offers its users a variety of structures from which they can choose in order to express their intentions properly. Misselection of form is likely to lead to misunderstanding or to a breakdown in communication. What aggravates this problem is the lack of correspondence between form and function. A declarative sentence, for example, is primarily used for informing or giving a statement. However, it can also be used to convey a warning or a request to do something. For example, the utterance “There is a roasted chicken on the table” may convey the function of informing when uttered by a mother in response to her son who asked her about his lunch. It can also be interpreted as a warning from a mother to her daughter when she sees their cat entering the kitchen. 2.2.2. Changing the language according to different factors Such factors relate to the interactants, time, place and topic of the conversation. A learner needs to use an appropriate level of language complexity in terms of structure and vocabulary when he talks to children, adults, females, colleagues, high ranking officials, or elderly people. Moreover, the speaker’s assumptions about the receivers’ background knowledge are decisive factors in adjusting the speaker’s message and packaging information according to the receiver’s needs. 10

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 2.2.3. Observing conversational principles and politeness norms while conversing with others In addition to rules of usage, foreign language learners need to acquire a different set of rules pertaining to language use, including the maxims of the Cooperative Principle (quantity, quality, relevance and manner) as Grice (1975) simply put them, and the maxims of the politeness principle as stated by Lakoff (1973) as follows: (1) Don’t impose, (2) Give options and (3) Make your receiver feel good. Cook (2004:31-33) states that flouting such principles may lead to obfuscation or a breakdown in communication. Observing conversational norms also includes knowledge of when and how to start and end a conversation properly in different contexts. It also involves adequate knowledge of how to maintain the continuity of the topic, how to utilize body language, how to rephrase a misunderstood utterance, and how far from the other interlocutor should the speaker set himself apart in the process of communication (conventions of proxemics). These are some of the various aspects of the pragmatic competence that constitute essential components of communication. What makes these aspects essential to be taught to foreign language learners is the fact that they are culture specific. Had they been similar cross-linguistically, there would not have been a need for teaching and incorporating them in the foreign language curricula. Consequently, textbook writers and course designers need to decide when and how many of these non-linguistic aspects should be taught to foreign language learners. Furthermore, although such components are essential to language learning, they are subsumed under discourse grammar not sentence-based grammar. Therefore, focusing on sentence grammar without a concomitant focus on discourse grammar does not lead to the development of communicative competence among foreign language learners. In his study titled “Learning Pragmatics from ESL & EFL Textbooks: How Likely?,” Vellenga (2004) holds that although foreign language textbooks constitute the core of the curriculum and syllabus in most classrooms, they rarely provide enough information and teaching materials for learners to successfully acquire pragmatic competence. He concluded that “ textbook developers could include authentic examples of speech acts and sufficient metapragmatic explanations to facilitate acquisition of pragmatic competence.” 2.3. Discourse competence This competence refers to the ability of the learner to produce and comprehend connected discourse be it speech or writing. For a communicative act to be successful, the linguistic output should accomplish two major conditions. It should be cohesive and coherent. De beaugrande and Dressler (1981) state seven standards of textuality, including cohesion, coherence, informativity, and acceptability, etc. Part of the communicative ability that foreign language learners must develop is the ability to produce cohesive speech or writing where words, phrases, clauses, sentences and paragraphs hold together through using grammatical and lexical devices. However, coherence refers to the quality of 11

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... speech or writing where the portion of language produced maintains sense continuity and theme unity. Discourse competence also involves the ability of the learner to have background knowledge of the world that is usually referred to as knowledge structures or schemata. These components of discourse competence, again, are not in the domain of sentence grammar. This is another argument for incorporating discourse grammar in the curricula of foreign language teaching. 2.4. Strategic competence This is the fourth component required for successful communication. It refers to both verbal and non-verbal strategies that language users employ in order to maintain communication through repairing mistakes and potential breakdowns prior to their occurrence or immediately following it. In other words, it is the ability of the learner to maintain communication and keep it going in case of breakdowns or misunderstanding through adopting a number of verbal and non- verbal strategies. If a speaker, for instance, does not know a word, he may use a synonym or a paraphrase for that word. He may also request for clarification or repetition in case of misunderstanding, or when the message is not clear due to noise effects. In his article titled “Developing Strategic Competence: Towards Autonomy in Oral Interaction,” Mariani (1994) defines strategic competence as “the ability to solve communication problems despite an inadequate command of the linguistic and sociocultural code.” Furthermore, he classified strategic strategies into two levels: the word or sentence level and the discourse level. Word level strategies include generalization, paraphrasing, foreignizing, restructuring (self-repair), and borrowing (code switching). However, discourse level strategies include the following: x Opening and closing a conversation x Keeping a conversation going x Expressing feelings and attitudes x Managing interaction (handling a topic or discussion) x Negotiating meanings and intentions This clearly shows that restricting teaching a foreign language to only developing linguistic competence falls short of expectations. This is due to the fact that most of the above skills are beyond the scope of sentence grammar which is the focus of most of the teaching practices in several countries. Canale and Swain (1980) hold that strategic competence; grammatical competence and sociolinguistic competence can be used as criteria to evaluate the proficiency of foreign language learners. The need to develop pragmatic competence and to incorporate teaching it in textbooks was also stressed by Krisnawati (2011), who suggested raising the pragmatic awareness of foreign language learners through the inclusion of pragmatic instruction in the classroom. Having delineated what it means to know a language and the types of competence that foreign language learners need to develop as a necessary and sufficient condition for successful 12

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 communication, it might be expedient at this point to cast a glance at the differences between sentence-based grammar and discourse grammar. 3. What are the differences between sentence grammar and discourse grammar? Sentence-based grammar refers to the study of sentence structure in terms of functions and categories. A sentence may be analyzed into grammatical categories such as noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, prepositional phrase and adverbial phrase. These grammatical categories may be assigned relevant syntactic functions such as subject, direct object, indirect object, premodifier, postmodifier and adverbial. Most traditional teaching methodologies adopt this model of grammar that focuses on enabling students to produce grammatically correct sentences. Therefore, the focus of such methodologies is on grammatical correctness or accuracy rather than on fluency. Sentence-based grammar examines sentences in isolation and out of context. More often than not, teachers and textbook writers use invented or idealized sentences as illustrative examples to clarify certain grammatical concepts. Discourse grammar, on the other hand, focuses on sentences and utterances as parts of larger stretches of language in both writing and speaking. Discourse grammar considers the context in which sentences and utterances are used. It attempts to analyze how we communicate and understand each other, taking into consideration the various contextual factors that may contribute to successful communication. These factors relate to the topic of conversation, the mode, the participants, and the setting. Cook (2004:25-6) refers to these factors as the elements of communication that include: the addresser, the addressee, the channel, the message form, the topic, the code and the setting. Discourse grammar goes beyond the scope of the sentence to that of discourse in context. It attempts to explain how we understand others and make ourselves understood. Speaker’s intentions, felicity conditions of speech acts, illocutionary forces of speech acts, politeness, information packaging, formal links (cohesive devices), coherence and macro- as well as micro-language functions are among the major topics that discourse grammar investigates. Hughes and McCarthy (1998) summed up the strengths and weaknesses of both discourse grammar and sentence grammar. They stated that discourse-based grammar acknowledges language choice, promotes language awareness of interpersonal features, and can provide insights into certain areas of grammar previously lacking satisfactory explanation such as the use of ‘it, this and that,’ and the use of the past perfect, whereas sentence based- grammar depicts sentences as manageable units, explicable via minimal-pairs-style and provides a secure basis for analytical learners. Cook (2004:12) clarified these differences as follows: In conclusion, it should be stressed that each of these models of grammar has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it is not proposed here that discourse grammar should eclipse sentence-based grammar. On the contrary, teaching both models should go hand in hand and both need to be taught concomitantly. 13

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... Sentence grammar Discourse grammar Isolated sentences Any stretch of language felt to be unified Grammatically well-formed Achieving meaning Without context In context Invented or idealized Observed 4. Why should discourse grammar be incorporated in teaching foreign languages? It might be expedient, at the outset, to explain why teachers and textbook writers prefer to teach sentence grammar and accord more importance to it rather than to discourse grammar, or at least, why do not they incorporate discourse grammar in the foreign language curricula? Despite the significance of discourse grammar, it is usually neglected or overlooked by teachers and textbook writers. This might be due to the inadequate pedagogical and methodological education and training of the EFL teachers who still believe that language can be better taught as separate independent units rather than as connected and integrated skills. That is probably why they teach grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking as discrete skills. This fragmentation of the language skills does not significantly contribute to the development of the overall communicative competence of the foreign language learners. The preference accorded to sentence grammar can be ascribed to a number of factors. It is very much easier for teachers to teach discrete sentences and analyze their structures in terms of conventional grammatical categories and functions than to analyze the structure of a paragraph, a conversation, or even a larger portion of spoken or written language. Moreover, textbook writers find it more convenient to design learning activities and exercises at the sentence level rather than at the text or conversation levels which are more complex to analyze and comprehend. Another reason for adopting sentence-based grammar in teaching comes from the examination and assessment policies and procedures adopted by educational systems that focus on testing accuracy of sentences in terms of grammar and vocabulary, in addition to testing pronunciation, because this is easier and more manageable than testing discourse abilities. Linguistic theories such as traditional grammar and generative transformational grammar had the sentence as their focus of analysis. Such language theories often used to invent artificial sentences that were isolated from context in order to support a grammatical rule or argument. It is through sentences that theoreticians can establish rules and constraints regarding what is acceptable or unacceptable. Cook (2004:5) states that “the treatment of language in terms of sentences has been quite successful in revealing how language works…whereas beyond the sentence, such rules seem either to disintegrate or 14

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 turn into rules for a different kind—social rules or psychological rules, which are not within the area of linguistic study at all.” The absence of a comprehensive theory of discourse consolidated the focus on sentences rather than on larger and natural portions of language. The ability to communicate effectively and efficiently involves more than being able to produce grammatically correct sentences and pronounce words and phrases. A learner who would only be able to do so without taking other factors into consideration would be, as Hymes (1972:227) argues “likely to be institutionalized” for saying all kinds of inappropriate, irrelevant and uninteresting things. This leads us to think of why discourse grammar should be concomitantly taught with sentence- based grammar. Hymes’ statement implies that teaching language as an abstract system for literacy purposes may not lead to the development of communicative competence in foreign language learners. It also implies that language needs to be taught as a means of communication that goes beyond the knowledge of language as an abstract code of grammar, phonology and pronunciation. Language as discourse comprises various aspects that are essential to communication, but do not exist in sentence-based grammar. Language is not just a set of grammatical sentences used out of context. On the contrary, language is best manifest as discourse that goes beyond the level of sentences to include paragraphs, essays, poems, dialogues, plays, short and long conversations. Many of the factors necessary for conveying information for successful communication lie outside the limits of the linguistic code. The communication process may also be affected by factors relating to the age, gender, role and status of the participants, as well as their level of education. The background knowledge that each participant has about the other interlocutor as well as the illocutionary forces of speech acts, conventions and principles of conversation, politeness principles, schemata and felicity conditions are all necessary conditions for successful communications. In face to face interactions, we utilize paralinguistic features in order to understand messages. These features include facial gestures, eye contact, tone of speech, quality of voice that can indicate self-confidence or the lack of it, and body language in general. Limiting the scope of language investigation to the study of sentences can be, to a certain extent, justified. However, this narrow scope of analysis will never be sufficient to explain the complex process of communication, and it will not be able to account for what makes stretches of language coherent and meaningful. Cook (2004:13) argues that “If we want to find the answer to the problem of what gives a stretch of language unity and meaning, we must look beyond the formal rules operating within sentences, and consider the people who use the language, and the world in which it happens as well.” It is obvious that Cook calls for expanding the scope of sentence grammar and moving towards incorporating discourse grammar in language teaching in order to be able to account for how we understand others and make ourselves understood. The 15

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... following are just examples of the areas that sentence-based grammar cannot account for. A. Necessity of knowledge of the world to account for the grammaticality of sentences: Sometimes, certain sentences may appear ungrammatical according to the strict rules of sentence-based grammar. Consider the following example: 1.The passenger arrived at the airport half an hour late and found that the plane had taken off. 2.The nurse was late and decided to call a cab. However, it was difficult for the driver to find her house quickly. 3.I had a severe headache last night and decided to go to a nearby medical center. Unfortunately, the doctor was not there. 4.A student had a toothache, and the dentist gave him a painkiller. The highlighted definite article ‘the’ in example 1 is used with the word ‘plane’ although it is used for the same time in the sentence. This use of the definite article is not warranted by sentence-based grammar that states that a definite article can be used with nouns that have unique reference, or when a noun phrase becomes definite because it has been mentioned earlier in a sentence, text or conversation. However, no one can claim the unacceptability of such a sentence because our background knowledge (schemata) about this situation tells us that a cab has a driver and it cannot reach anybody’s house without a driver. Therefore, it is our knowledge of the world that accounts for the acceptability of this sentence not the rules of sentence-based grammar. What is said about Example 1 also applies to the other examples. These examples clearly show the inadequacy of sentence-based grammar to account for the apparent ungrammaticality of the above-mentioned examples, and the need for discourse grammar. B. Understanding the intention of the message sender to interpret seemingly incohesive utterances: It is necessary for the participants in a conversation or a dialogue to cooperate with each other in order to maintain communication between them. This kind of cooperation is clear in contexts such as when a teacher walks into a classroom and says, “It is hot” and a student immediately says “Ok. Sir. I’ll open the windows.” Had the student not been cooperative, he would not have done anything. However, he did understand the function or the intention of the speaker’s utterance as a request to do something. Cook (2004:24) gave an example of an elderly neighbor who came to his door one day morning and said, “Sorry, love. I saw you were home. There is a cat stuck under the gate at number 67.” He said that he had no problem understanding the utterances of the neighbor although they are not linked with each other with any explicit cohesive device. He did not take them literally, but he understood the intention of the speaker and that she was requesting him to help free the cat. This interpretation would not have been possible had the receiver of the message not gone beyond the literal meaning of the single utterances, and had he not relied on his knowledge of the social world around him, a matter that cannot be explained by sentence-based grammar. 16

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 C. Illocutionary forces of utterances If one of the two participants misunderstands the function or the illocutionary force of an utterance, misunderstanding will be the result. For example, if someone asked you “Can you please show me where the bookshop is?” and you said, “No. I can’t.” In so doing, you have flouted the maxims of the cooperative principle in the sense that you violated the maxim of relevance because the one who asked this question did not intend to find out whether or not you have the ability to direct him to the bookshop. What he really needed was to request you to give him directions to go to the bookshop. D. Sentence-grammar can only account for the well-formedness of sentences but not texts. Only discourse or text grammar can do so. Consider the following group of sentences: Discourse analysis is the study of language beyond the sentence level. Generative Transformational grammar was initially developed by Chomsky. Dell Hypes was the first to talk about communicative competence. I am presenting this paper in a conference in Coimbatore. Many conferences are held annually to discuss social, political and economic issues. According to the rules of sentence grammar, the sentences of this paragraph are correct and acceptable. However, it is only through the rules of discourse grammar that we can say that these sentences are arbitrarily sequenced, and therefore, lack an essential standard of textuality, that is coherence. E. Turn-taking conventions are also significant for language learners who need to know when and at which point of a running conversation they should enter, and when and how they can end their contribution to conversations or dialogues. Turn-taking mechanisms are necessary to teach in the foreign language curriculum because they are culture specific. Cook (2004: 53) state that it is of considerable import for language learners to know how to take turns, pass the floor and interpret body gestures properly. F. Information quantity and ordering Foreign language learners need to be made aware of the amount of information to be conveyed in communicating with others at the level of both speaking and writing. They need to be taught how to avoid repeating old information in order to avoid boredom and wordiness. Furthermore, learners are also required to be aware of the manner of ordering this information, taking into account the receiver’s status, age, gender and level of education. They need to learn that addressing men is different from addressing women, and talking to adults differs from talking to children. Flouting these discourse conventions will result in undesirable consequences on the part of the sender who will sound boring, and on the part of the message receiver who may lose interest in listening to such a speaker or reading to such a writer. Consider the following examples where a student was asked by his teacher about why he was late to school. The student wanted to be honest and tell the truth. He said: I got up at six o’clock in the morning. I was in my bed which is in my bedroom in our house. I was wearing my blue pajamas that my father 17

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... bought me last week. I went to the washroom and washed my face and hands. I took the blue towel that was hung on the door of the bathroom and dried my hands and face. Then, I got out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen. The kitchen was cold and dark. So, I switched on the light and had my breakfast in the kitchen. I put on my clothes that were kept in my white clothes wardrobe. I left my house and went out to wait for the school bus, but the bus was late. This lengthy description is full of unnecessary information and it violates the maxims of quantity since more information than needed was given. It could have been sufficient for the student to say, “The school bus was late.” From a sentence-based grammar perspective, what the student said is grammatical and accurate. However, discourse grammar tells us that many discourse conventions have been violated and, therefore, the student’s message is full of redundant and given information that could have been avoided had the student been aware of the rules and conventions of discourse and information packaging. G. Logical relations between sentences: A paragraph consists of a number of sentences that develop one main idea that is usually expressed in the topic sentence. This main idea is referred to as the controlling idea that is further developed through supporting details. Very often, students produce a general statement at the beginning of a paragraph but they may not know which part of this statement is to be developed through supporting details. Example *Surgery, a method for treating diseases, is used for many important purposes in medicine and involves many stages. It is performed by cutting tissues with a scalpel, doing what is important, and finally stitching the incisions. Doctors perform surgery for many reasons. These are the first sentences of the first paragraph a student wrote on a topic titled 'Purposes of Surgery'. Two major problems can be diagnosed in this paragraph. - The topic sentence is broad. It contains three general controlling ideas: use of surgery for treatment, the purposes of surgery and the various stages of surgery. - The second sentence of the paragraph is not logically related to either of the two ideas mentioned in the topic sentence. It is a digression because it is about the process or steps of conducting an operation in general, not about the purposes or stages of surgery. These sentences clearly indicate that the student is not aware of the logical relations holding between sentences, nor is he aware of the paragraph development patterns that require logical sequencing of ideas. The above-stated arguments clearly prove that sentence-based grammar, although essential, cannot account for many aspects of the complex communication process. Therefore, we would be defeating our purpose if we restrict our teaching practices to sentence grammar and exclude teaching discourse grammar in foreign language classrooms. This is because sentence grammar primarily 18

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 contributes to the development of linguistic competence with total or partial exclusion of the other types of competences such as the discourse, sociocultural and strategic competences that really reflect the true knowledge of language. Consequently, curriculum designers, textbook writers and teachers should be aware of the inadequacies of relying solely on sentence grammar in preparing teaching materials. In fact, they have to concomitantly incorporate elements of discourse grammar in the various stages of teaching foreign languages. The following section of this paper provides examples to show how we can incorporate aspects of discourse grammar into teaching. 5. How can we incorporate the various manifestations of discourse grammar in language pedagogy? It has become clear that sentence-based grammar cannot adequately deal with many aspects of communication that are indispensable for explaining the unity and meaningfulness of messages. Therefore, curriculum designers and textbook writers need to move gradually towards an explicit and concomitant incorporation of discourse grammar in teaching foreign languages. In this section, illustrative examples of how to teach certain components of the overall competence of foreign language learners will be presented. 5.1. Development of logical relations or coherence between sentences in a paragraph At the outset, a teacher can show his students a model paragraph that is well organized and logically developed. This paragraph needs to be analyzed with the participation of the students in terms of topic sentence, controlling idea and supporting details. The teacher should make sure that the students know the role each sentence plays in developing the paragraph. Having explained how a paragraph is structured and developed, the teacher can move to the next practical step which is writing a coherent paragraph. A teacher can select a topic that is of interest to his students and write the title on the whiteboard. He can solicit ideas relevant to the topic from the students. Together with the students, the teacher may formulate a topic sentence that clearly shows the topic and the controlling idea. The paragraph has to be built sentence by sentence. Once a sentence is added, the teacher should make sure that students can see why this sentence is relevant or not to the topic. He can then ask them to add another sentence that develops the controlling idea. Students can provide relevant sentences in light of the paragraph text type (narrative, explanatory, argumentative, definition, process, comparison, etc.). Each time a sentence is added, students need to make sure that it contributes to the development of the controlling idea in the topic sentence. This practice can always be reinforced through teaching reading where a teacher can select a paragraph from the reading text under discussion, and ask students to analyze it in order to see the logical progression of the ideas. 19

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... 5.2. Story completion Another technique that can be used to teach students to write coherent paragraphs and essays is referred to as story completion where the teacher gives the students a sentence or a clause that contains a topic to be developed. Each student will be asked to add a sentence that contributes to the development of the controlling idea expressed in the main sentence. At the end, the teacher may display the completed paragraph or story and ask the students to clarify how each sentence relates to the preceding ones. If a sentence digresses from the main theme, it has to be deleted. This type of exercise promotes the students’ sense of coherence and logical development of ideas. The following are examples of starter sentences: Story completion - While I was doing my homework last night, ……………………2………………….. 3………………4…………………..5…………………6……….………… …………..7. ……………..8.…………………9.…………………….10. ……………………… - Universities should offer courses to help students find jobs after graduation. 2…………………………3………………4………………5……… 5.3. Identifying irrelevant sentences Students are given a paragraph that includes an irrelevant sentence that has to be crossed out. This activity raises the students’ awareness of the relationships between sentences at the level of comprehension. 5.4. Reordering jumbled sentences Another activity to promote students’ awareness of coherence is giving them a paragraph with jumbled sentences to be put in order according to their understanding of the logical relations between these sentences. This activity can be done individually, in pairs or in small groups. It helps students to think hard in order to identify how such sentences are logically constructed. The teacher can help the students by identifying the first sentence for them. He can also mark one or more of the middle sentences in accordance with the students’ level. The following is an illustrative example: Read the following sentences and reorder them to produce an organized paragraph. The first sentence is given to you. 1. California is the most wonderful place to visit because of its variety of weather and its beautiful nature. 2. They can find places that are difficult for humans to live in the summer because they are so hot. 3. Or they can find places closed in the winter because of the snow. 4. On the other hand, visitors can find the nature they like. 5. Visitors can find a huge forest, a dead desert, and a beautiful coast. 20

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 6. So California is the most wonderful place to visit because of its weather and nature. 7. Visitors to California can find any weather they like. 8. They can find cool temperatures in the summer; also they can find warm weather in the winter. 9. They can find high mountains and low valleys. 5.5 Using video clips Video clips are used to model native speaker’s performance of certain language functions or speech acts. In this activity, students watch a short video clip of two native speakers performing the speech act of apology, request, offering, asking for permission, turning down an offer politely, expressing likes or dislikes, inviting, etc. Students will listen to what the native speakers say while watching them. They will also learn from their use of body language. In such an activity, learners will have a chance to be exposed to authentic material. They will also notice the proper expressions that native speakers use in certain contexts. The following is an illustrative dialogue script that clarifies to learners how to make an appointment: Making an appointment Henry: Are you free on the thirteenth in the afternoon? Allan: No I'm afraid not. I'm meeting a friend then. How about the fourteenth in the morning? Keith: I'm sorry. I'm attending a meeting at the Hilton then. Cathy: What about the next day? Keith: No. I'm busy then too. I'm meeting Scott at North Bridge Road. Are you free on Thursday afternoon? Cathy: Yes, I think I am. Let's meet for lunch at Grand restaurant. Keith: Good idea! Is two o'clock okay? Cathy: That's fine. See you there! Having analyzed this dialogue and highlighted the phrases and questions used in making an appointment, the teacher can ask students to act out the dialogue, using the same words or their own words. It is worth mentioning that dialogues should be short so that students can memorize them and act them out. They should also reflect the students’ needs and interests. Otherwise, students will be bored. The teacher may also ask the learners to work in pairs and to produce a similar dialogue. 5.6. Gap filling This activity can be an expansion of the previous one in which students will be asked to fill in deleted questions or answers as can be seen in the following example: Ordering a meal. John: Where shall we sit? Look! There are some free seats in the corner. Jill: 21

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... …………………………………………………………………….... Jean: Okay. What would you like to eat? Jill: I'm really hungry. ……………… Why don't you have chicken too? Jean: …………………………………. . I'll have a cheese sandwich instead. Jill: And what about drinks? I think I'll have some mint tea. Jean: ……………………………………………………………………….… Waiter: Good evening. Jill: ……………………………….………………………………………. Waiter: What would you like to drink? Jean: ……………………………….…………………………….. Waiter: Okay. ……………………………………………………. 5.7. Speech acts and functions Students need to learn the relationship between form and function. Moreover, they need to be made aware of the fact that the relationship between form and function is not always direct and it is not often one-to-one, but one-to-many. An interrogative sentence, for example, usually expresses the function of asking. However, the same form can be used to convey different illocutionary forces according to the context in which the utterance is used. Consider the following examples: Can you jump over this wall? This is an interrogative sentence that conveys the function of asking. Can you help me paint my house? This is also an interrogative sentence that expresses a request. Can I leave early today? This is another interrogative sentence that represents the function of asking for permission. These examples show that the same form can be used to express different functions. Moreover, one function can be expressed by more than one form. The following is an activity that can be utilized for teaching the relationship between form and function: Identify the function of each underlined sentence or phrase in the following sentences. 1. Ann: Hello, Suzan. Happy Christmas to you and you family! Suzan: Come in. I am glad you have come. A. A wish B. A request C. A welcome D. An apology 2. Keane: The race will start at 8 a.m., won't it? Clerk: That's right. After registration, you have to assemble at the starting line in the field. A. Giving information B. Greeting C. Requesting D. Description 22

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 3. Ronnie: Our team played badly, especially I. Mat : It's all your fault. You have let the team down. A. Advice B. Blame C. Protest D. Warn These are just examples to show how we can incorporate various aspects of discourse grammar into teaching a foreign language. Teachers’ experiences should not be neglected in this field. They can certainly add to, modify these activities or create their own exercises. 5.8. Discourse markers Discourse markers or sentence connectors are words or phrases that are used to link together sentences, paragraphs and even larger portions of language. They are more commonly used in writing than in speaking. They are used to signal and create logical roles of sentences in conversations and texts. They contribute to creating cohesion and coherence, two major standards of textuality. In addition, they can indicate logical roles of sentences such as contrast (in contrast, however, nevertheless), comparison (similarly, like, unlike), concluding (to conclude, finally, to sum up, in conclusion), addition (furthermore, moreover, and), cause (because, since, as), and result (consequently, as a result, therefore), etc. The roles that these linking devices play in communication can only be appreciated in context. Therefore, foreign language learners need to be taught how to use them in real communication in both speaking and writing. They need to learn where and when to use such connectors in discourse because overusing, underusing or misusing discourse connectors will result in awkward texts. The following are illustrative activities for teaching discourse markers: 5.8.1 Raising learners’ awareness of the significance of discourse markers While teaching reading, and whenever a discourse marker is encountered in the text, the teacher should draw the learners’ attention to this connector and explain its function in the text. Teachers may also select a paragraph or a longer text and ask their students to identify discourse markers and attempt to identify the function of each in signaling logical relations between sentences. These activities help students to recognize the existence and significance of connectors in discourse. However, it is not enough for students to identify connectors at the recognition level alone; they need to move to the stage of producing them in real discourse. 5.8.2 Another activity that teachers can utilize to help students produce connectors properly is to ask them to fill in blank spaces with appropriate connectors as in the following activity: Fill in the blanks with the word or phrase that best completes each of the following sentences: Moreover firstly as long as whereas though A. __________, I would like to welcome you all to the conference today. B. __________the film was boring, we still had a nice evening out 23

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... C. My brother works in a large company ___________ I work on my own at home. D. You should go to university because it offers you better job opportunities.__________ , it introduces you to many new people. E. You can attend the meeting ______ you don't say anything. These are just examples of how educators can integrate discourse grammar in teaching foreign languages. 6. Conclusion It has become evident that sentence-based grammar, although essential to language teaching, is not sufficient due to a number of inadequacies that cannot account for several aspects of the communicative competence required of foreign language learners. Nevertheless, sentence-based grammar should not be discarded or marginalized in the teaching learning process of foreign languages. This paper highlighted the aspects of communicative competence that sentence grammar cannot deal with, but discourse grammar can. Curricula designers and textbook writers should accord balanced importance to both approaches of grammar and promote teaching both of them concomitantly rather than excluding one at the expense of the other. Teachers of foreign languages ought to realize that teaching learners to produce grammatically correct sentences should not be the only expected outcome from them. In addition, learners should be able to produce correct sentences in culturally appropriate settings. They should be taught how to use the language for communicative purposes in natural contexts. Moreover, these factors are beyond the realm of sentence grammar. Unless these elements are intentionally incorporated in the foreign language teaching curricula and textbooks, and unless they are put into practice in the foreign language classrooms, the students’ communicative competence will remain lacking. Sentence grammar and discourse grammar must complement each other to enable foreign language learners to use language functionally rather than artificially. Teachers still believe in teaching sentence-based grammar because of the different reasons mentioned earlier. Therefore, they should be trained on how to incorporate and integrate discourse and pragmatic components in their teaching. To accomplish this goal, teachers must receive in-service training as part of their professional development in order to raise their awareness of the significance of discourse grammar and to enable them to create relevant activities to teach the various aspects of discourse grammar. Sentence-based grammar and discourse- based grammar complement each other for the ultimate purpose of developing the learners’ communicative competence. This conclusion is harmonious with what Hughes and McCarthy (1998: 284-285) stated: We would certainly not wish to suggest that traditional and discourse- based grammar approaches are mutually exclusive. In all probability, a wisely chosen combination will be the best course of action in most situations, and teachers may best tackle many complexities of English 24

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 grammar (e.g., prepositions, dative movement, adverb positions) first through simplified, sentence-based approach, moving later to the discoursal nuances of larger contexts. Shehdeh Fareh POB. 27272 English Language Center University of Sharjah UAE Email: [email protected] References Armostis, Spyros. (2013). ‘Communicative competence’. http://www.linguisticator.com, Posted by Spyros Armostis on May 7th, 2013. Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen, Zoltanb Dörnyei. (1997). ‘Pragmatic Awareness and Instructed L2 Learning: An empirical investigation’. Paper presented at the AAAL 1997 Conference, Orlando. Canale, Michael, and Merrill Swain. (1980). ‘Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing’. Applied Linguistics 1, 1-47. Cook, Guy. (2004). Discourse. Oxford: OUP. De Beaugrande, Robert, and Wolfgang Dressler. (1981). Introduction to Text Linguistics. London: Longman. Ellis, Rod. (1986) Second Language Acquisition and Language Pedagogy. Bristol: The Longman Press Ltd. Grice, Paul. (1975). ‘Logic and conversation’. In Peter Cole and J. Morgan (eds.), Speech Acts. Syntax and Semantics, (1975:41-58). Vol. 3. New York: Academic Press. Hughes, Rebecca and Michael McCarthy. (1998). ‘From sentence to discourse: Discourse grammar and English language teaching’. TESOL Quarterly, 32 (2): 263-287. Hymes, Dell. (1966). ‘Two Types of Linguistic Relativity’. In William Bright (ed.). Sociolinguistics, 114–158. The Hague: Mouton. Hymes, Dell. (1972). ‘On communicative competence’. In J. B. Pride and Janet Holmes (eds.). Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings, 269-293. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 25

Fareh Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching ... Karimnia, Amin and Marziyeh Izadparast, (2007). ‘On communicative and linguistic competence’. International Journal of Communication (New Delhi: Bahri). Retrieved June 27, 2012. Krisnawati, Ekaning. (2011). ‘Pragmatic competence in the spoken English classroom’. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1 (1):100-110. Lakoff, Robin. (1973). ‘The Logic of politeness: Minding your p’s and q’s. Papers from the 9th Regional Meetin, 292-305. Chicago Linguistics Society. Leung, Constant. (2005). ‘Convivial communication: Recontextualizing communicative competence’. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15 (2): 119–144. Mariani, Luciano. (1994). ‘Developing strategic competence: Autonomy in oral interaction’. Perspectives, A Journal of TESOL Italy, 20 (1), June, 1994. Savignon, Sandra. (1997). Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice: Texts and Contexts in Second Language Learning (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Vellenga, Heidi. (2004). ‘Learning pragmatics from ESL & EFL textbooks: How likely?’ TESL-EJ (Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language), 8 (2): 1-18. 26

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' Deema Ammari University of Jordan, Amman-Jordan Abstract: This article explores a feminist approach to the nineteenth century psychoanalytical treatment of 'Bed Rest'. The treatment, as the article demonstrates, is practiced on women who according to standards of patriarchal society project abnormal brain activity, and should be reduced to docility in order for them to resume their domestic societal roles. However, the cure in this research does indeed prove to be beneficial for women by giving the opposite of the intended outcome, by allowing women enough space to question their place in society and allocate a subjective Self that goes beyond the fixed patriarchal image of maleness and femaleness onto a fluid 'in-between'. This newly formed individuality will be discussed through the analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. Keywords: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 'The Yellow Wallpaper', Bed Rest, Feminism, Patriarchy, Liberating Treatment. 1. Introduction This article demonstrates a socio-psychoanalytical study of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper', first published in 1892, which, according to Gilman, projects the use of science in a patriarchal context as a method to oppress women's minds and reduce them to mental subordination and childlike numbness to their existence in society. This paper focuses on Gilman's assertion of her creative impetus, through the voice and pen of her protagonist, by turning negative oppressive ideologies and concepts into positive and subjectifying tools for her own liberation. The treatment of 'Bed Rest', as will be further explained has consistently been interpreted as an oppressive psychological method which carried negative connotations. Being exclusively practiced on women, it was rapidly popularized in the late nineteenth century as it was introduced and practiced by male physicians on female patients who projected abnormal mental activity, atypical to the patriarchal society; hence encouraging and normalizing the male-constructed image of women as confined, emotional beings incapable of taking on responsibility, inactive members of society and thus the need for them to be reduced to docility for their own good. Gilman is considered the first writer to focus on the treatment in her short story, and even though the treatment of bed rest is mentioned in some texts such as Sarah Bilston's novel Bed Rest (2006), it is not analyzed within the same feminist dimensions as those of Gilman. This paper sheds light on the treatment as a patriarchal method that 27

Ammari 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in the ... confirms the inferiority of women, as part of an oppressive societal system in order to assert gender hierarchy. Yet, no matter how oppressive the concept behind the treatment is, Gilman creatively has her protagonist create her indigenous identity by subjecting her to it. Gilman's protagonist exhibits an unexplained restlessness and energy considered abnormal to her society: she is, as Edward Said puts it, ‘[…] permitted adventures in which [… her bed rest] experiences reveal to [… her] the limits of what [… she] can aspire to, where [… she] can go, what [… she] can become’ (1993:84). The protagonist is aware of her patriarchal context which she uses to empower future developments. These developments will prove to be acts of resistance which bring discomfort for the patriarchal system simply because a woman’s independence is believed to be foreign to its ethos. However, transcending the realm of set and normalized attitudes in society results in what Said suggests is ‘the death of a hero or heroine […] who by virtue of overflowing energy does not fit into the orderly scheme of things’ (ibid:84). This idea of death will be pursued metaphorically as a projection of psychological and physical numbness through 'bed rest', and will be considered as not merely the end of the protagonist's objectivity but the birth of her new subjective Self. The study is divided into three parts: Focus will first be shed on the radical treatment of bed rest; the neurological cure that the American psychiatrist, neurologist and physician, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, formed and practiced in the late nineteenth century on what he believed were 'nervous women' with hysterical tendencies. The second part of this study includes a feminist approach to 'psychical reality' to reach an understanding of women's place in a hierarchised patriarchal context. This includes a close study of the opposite effect of the intended outcomes of Mitchell's treatment. It will also be exemplified through the study of Gilman's semi-biographical story 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. The experience of the treatment that Gilman projects through her protagonist shows that the treatment does prove effective for women, not by reducing them to docility, but by allowing them space away from patriarchal influence, and room for self-realization, affirmation and allocation in society as active members capable of both rationality and emotions. This required space will then be demonstrated in the third part of the study through the adoption of Homi Bhabha's cultural theory of 'in-betweeness', as a fluid space between the Self and the Other. Even though Bhabha's theory of the 'in-between' is mostly argued in Post-colonial theory, nevertheless, the use of his theory proves most essential in this paper because it will be interpreted as the space where the protagonist of Gilman’s story reaches a balance between her mental activity and emotions, and eventually emerges as a full individual with both body and mind. Furthermore, the use of Bhabha’s ‘in-between’ as a fluid space that transcends dichotomous relations is crucial for the understanding of the actions of the protagonist toward the end of the story because it is the moment that the protagonist breaks away from patriarchy's binary oppositions and announces her individuality. 28

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 2. 'Bed Rest': the Patriarchal Treatment for Abnormal Women The 'Rest Cure', or better known as 'Bed Rest' is a treatment that Mitchell designed for 'nervous women [… whose] emotional disorders […] were not understood [… and] were not responsive to medical therapies' in the late nineteenth century (1878:9). The quick and responsive medical reception of this treatment helped establish it as the only therapy for women at the time, especially that it was justified by Mitchell as a 'moral method' (Burr 1929:160). According to Mitchell, men and women's roles in society were clearly defined and unequally stratified. A woman's morality was strongly connected to her image as the 'Angel of the House'; an image prevalent in the nineteenth century, where the more silence, passivity, obedience women projected the more moral they were considered in society. Accordingly, Bed Rest treatment became not merely justifiable, but also crucial for women who did not conform to the required image set by society, and risked being marginalized. The treatment included absolute isolation and confinement to bed rest for twenty four hours per day, continued through months at times, with the watchful eye of the psychiatrist and nurse in charge of the patient, in order to ensure the patient's mental and physical passivity. This method was designed to transform the mind from a state of excessive emotions to a state of complete numbness, till the psychiatrist in charge decides that the patient's mind is reduced to placid contentment: 'Brain work having ceased, mental expenditure is reduced to a slight play of emotions and an easy drifting of thought' (Dercum 1917:44). What is most striking about Mitchell's newly formed and radically followed treatment by his peers is his insistence on one crucial factor to a woman's physical and psychological 'health', which is the strict limitation and reduction of the function of the brain to the minimum so it does not interfere with her domestic role and duties. As it follows, the desired outcome would serve the purposes of the patriarchal system. He believed that the more mental activity a woman was projecting, the higher a risk her nervous system ran, leading to hysteria (Mitchell 1878:99). Mitchell's personal opinions, in addition to his attitude towards the purpose of his treatment, seem to address his concern for the stability and continuation of the patriarchal system rather than the psychological health of his female patients. In one of his studies, he describes one of his patients as '[…] a pallid, feeble creature [… that] had no more bosom than the average chicken of a boardinghouse table. Nature had wisely prohibited this being from increasing her breed' (Walter 1970:132). A woman's physical and psychological health were thus determined according to the standards set by the very system oppressing her, proving the treatment effective for the patriarchal system instead of women of society. 3. 'The Yellow Wallpaper' within the Dynamics of Psychical Reality: A Feminist Reading Psychical reality is an emerging issue in recent writing on socio-psychoanalysis and feminism. It takes its origins from Sigmund Freud’s abandonment of the 29

Ammari 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in the ... explanation of hysteria which he had attributed to ‘childhood seduction’, which in turn was changed into a fantasy of seduction to replace the hypothesis of actual seduction. With this shift, the effect of a repressed fantasy on psychical reality was the same as an actual occurrence. Freud still believed in the trauma of an actual event but shifted his attention to the unconscious fantasy, therefore introducing the concept of psychical reality and setting the foundation for psychoanalysis. Freud refers to psychical reality as ‘everything in the psyche that takes on the force of reality for the subject’: Frequently [he] means nothing more than the reality of our thoughts, of our personal world, a reality at least as valid as that of the material world and, in the case of neurotic phenomena, decisive. But [… in] its strictest sense ‘psychical reality’ denotes the unconscious wish and the phantasy associated with it (Laplanche and Pontalis 1973:7). The problem becomes evident when studying psychical reality from a feminist view point as it bears two main interpretations: one in which psychical reality is ‘modifiable’, the other in which it is ‘intractable’ (Brennan 1988:255). It is essential at this point to consider different feminist debates on psychical reality and socio-psychoanalysis in order to consider Gilman's work in the light of such debates. Some of the many feminist debates – namely Nancy Chodorow’s and Juliet Mitchell’s – on psychoanalysis repudiate Freud’s dependence on the biological state of the human being in his attempt to explain the origin of patriarchy. They argue that patriarchy finds its origins in social and historical behaviors. Conversely, Luce Irigaray employs psychoanalytic theory and philosophy – the discourses which she believes exclude women from their social roles – in her study of identity formation. Irigaray (1985) insists that gender difference does not exist because difference would suggest that men and women are two sides of the same coin and are capable of achieving subjectivity so they can be compared or existent in opposition to one another, but the subjectivity of men relies on the oppression and the categorization of women as the Other. However, another debate within psychoanalysis is evident in Mitchell and Chodorow's work (Dinnerstein 1976; Mitchell 1974; Chodorow 1978). Mitchell suggests that psychoanalysis theorizes ‘a socio-historical product’ (Brennan 1988:256). Chodorow also uses psychoanalysis to study the social internalization of gender difference which, according to her, originates in socio- historical gender relations and oppression rather than ‘the psychical centrality' of manhood (ibid:256). One prominent debate emerges from Mitchell's claim that one cannot study psychoanalysis without the use of Freud's – or Lacan's for that matter – theory of phallo-centrism, hence the lack of psychical reality, as psychoanalysis becomes reduced to a sociological rather than a psychic state. On this topic, Teresa Brennan writes: ‘psychoanalysis is not a theory of how socially created [… gendered] relations are internalized, It is about the construction, rather than the internalization, of [… gendered] difference’ (ibid:256). Yet the ‘immediate demands’ of feminists entail their attribution of psychoanalysis to social relations (ibid:256). 30

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 These feminist debates contend that psychoanalysis, and therefore psychic reality, cannot be reduced to a sociological state especially in the study of gendered difference: Brennan suggests that critics ‘imply that psychical reality involves more than contingencies’ (ibid:257). Gilman seems to adopt a concept close to Chodorow's and Michell’s, which defines psychic reality as ‘an internalized version of social reality’, the scope under which gender difference falls (ibid:257). Through her detailed and prolonged evaluation of her protagonist's actions and reactions to oppression, Gilman stresses the point that internalizing socially created gender relations and difference involves more than a simple correspondence between one’s social life and one’s psyche. Chodorow (1978:50) explains that: Internalization does not mean direct transmission of what is objectively in [one's] social world into [...] unconscious experience. Social experiences take on varied psychological meanings depending on [… one's] feelings of ease, helplessness, dependence [....] Internalization involves distortions, defenses, and transformations [… and it] is mediated by fantasy and by conflict. In her study of Gilman's feminism, Judith Allen (2009:3) sheds light on the socio-economic context in which Gilman lived and translated through her numerous rebellious female protagonists. She contends that the critical time, namely between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was problematic to women yet offered many opportunities for change for Gilman and other suffragists of her time. It was problematic in its two contradictory realities, one that held on firmly to sexual differentiation that was confounded with the economic relation between men and women, upon which women were left economically dependent upon men and conformed to traditional ideals of morality and domesticity. The second contradictory reality embraced political, economic and social progressivism laying its foundation for Modernity (Allen 2009:4). This contradiction of a world moving forward and progressing in all its dimensions excluded women, which pushed Gilman to fight for a 'human world', one that went beyond the dichotomous image set for men and women by patriarchy. Thus, Gilman embraced many campaigns and reform initiatives through which women's acquirement of their basic rights would be a step toward reaching such a desired world, where women and men alike were regarded as equally productive members of society. On this topic, Allen (ibid:1) quotes Gilman: […] today we find … extension of the franchise to women charged with the same evils long ago attributed to their having a higher education or the chance to earn their livings. The latest and highest form of Feminism has great promise for the world. It postulates womanhood free, strong, clean, and conscious of its power and duty. Gilman translates these realities in her characters; John and Jenny represent mainstream patriarchal society, while the protagonist represents the progressive woman accommodating the changes of her time. Gilman employs the role of a medical doctor as the protagonist's husband, John, monitoring her 31

Ammari 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in the ... every movement as well as the watchful eye of his sister Jennie, throughout the treatment in order to present the social reality of men and women controlled by a hierarchical system. The story opens with the protagonist's projection of the patriarchal setting where her treatment is to be carried out. She describes the house as a '[…] colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, […] a haunted house, [… with] something queer about it' (Gilman 2010:1). Her careful choice of description for the setting addresses her recognition of patriarchy as not merely oppressive, ancient, repetitive and forceful, but also flawed. Thus, projecting a conscious realization that the treatment does not serve her mental wellbeing but instead works for the better good of the stability of the patriarchal system. As it follows, the protagonist's room is described as a 'nursery' with '[…] the windows [… being] barred for little children'; a perfect setting for the treatment's desired outcome (ibid:2). The striped pattern on the room's walls resembling the bars of a prison also completes the desired setting for the protagonist's treatment as she is constantly reminded of her confinement and imprisonment not just through the treatment, but also through the restrictions of patriarchy. She describes the pattern as […] committing every artistic sin. It is dull enough to confusethe eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions (ibid:2-3). The colonial setting along with John's oppressive medical opinions of the protagonist's so called 'condition' help her recognize the flaws in the patriarchal system, which pushes her to suggest that: 'John is a physician, and perhaps […] that is one reason I do not get well faster' (ibid:1). The contradiction in opinion and action that John projects add all the more confusion to the protagonist's mind which leads to her distrust in his professionalism. She says: […] he does not believe I am sick! […] If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency – what is one to do? [… I] am absolutely forbidden to 'work' until I am well again. Personally I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good (ibid:1). Although the protagonist senses the flaws of patriarchy and recognizes her presence, she nevertheless knows she is helpless as she cannot disagree with John because he represents the voice of reason in society. He is on the one hand her husband, and to add to his authority over her, he is a physician, which leaves her doubly controlled and lacking credibility in society were she to voice her opinions. Therefore she resorts to acting out 'proper self-control […] before him' which she finds tiresome (ibid:2). Although on the surface men are presented as powerful oppressors and colonizers of women they are portrayed as victims of a corrupt system. The protagonist admits that John 'hardly lets [… her] stir without special direction', 32

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 but his blind projection of his expected role as one in control leaves him no space for perceiving difference (ibid:2). The repetition of the presentation of social reality as corrupt leads to the normalization and internalization of the hierarchical assumption as right and justifiable in men’s and women’s minds. This also explains why John's sister Jennie similarly plays the role of the watchful nurse carrying out orders. The protagonist describes her as '[…] so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is writing which made me sick' (ibid:5). Jennie also describes the process of self-realization and individuality as 'staining everything it touched', thus representing women who live and die unnoticed or recognized (ibid:10). However, through the process of the protagonist's self-realization, the tables are turned as she starts taking on the role of the watchful eye. She notices John and Jennie's growing interest in her creativity as a projection of her brain activity as she reports: I have watched John when he did not know I was looking, and come into the room suddenly on the most innocent excuses, and I've caught him several times looking at the paper! And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with her hand on it once. […] I know she was studying that pattern […] (ibid:9). The protagonist, realizes she is on the right track watching their growing and inquisitive secret interest in her creativity, but reacting violently at the prospect of being discovered. They do so because of the corrupt system which forces them to live on the margins of life and makes them completely passive towards their individuality. They have no control over their lives, thus no attention is given to them. The protagonist, on the other hand, is not satisfied with the passive image forced upon her by the patriarchal system. She is considered a threat to the stability of patriarchy because she shows excessive mental activity, considered too excessive for her according to the standards of normality in society, and so is forced to submit to the cure or else risk being labeled as hysterical. However, by submitting to the cure she comes to realize that her mandatory imprisonment does not merely drive her to think more, but also helps her question her place in society privately and away from the influence of the patriarchal system. In this sense, the protagonist turns the suppressive treatment into one that helps her form her individuality, so she willingly embraces it and secretly starts documenting her improvement and process of realization of her forming individuality. John is also stripped of feelings or personal opinions and takes on the role of a physician rather than an affectionate husband, and is made to believe in a subjectivity dependent upon the objectivity and oppression of an Other, his wife. Questioning his actions would also mark the end of the power which justifies his actions. Gilman's depiction of men and women as equally objectified in the story is a projection of the social reality controlled by a hierarchical system. The Self and the Other for Gilman are two sides of the same coin and should both exist equally in one body to bring out one’s true and 33

Ammari 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in the ... complete self: one cannot be complete when one’s real desires are restricted by society. The struggle of a woman with her femininity emanates from an essential consciousness of physical lack or castration. Patriarchy associates her ‘inferiority’ with what is physically apparent and what she visibly lacks. When a female is born into such a long tradition of gender struggle and discrimination, she either internalizes the ideology as inborn and natural, as exemplified through Jennie's character, or realizes the injustice of it and resists it, which is what the protagonist does. Her struggle becomes one against what society claims as natural for a woman, against the patriarchal constitution of her culture. The protagonist does not deny her femininity or promise vengeance on the males of her society; she denies and struggles against the sense of mandated objectivity which patriarchy imposes on her mind and body. She is aware of gender difference and wants to locate it but not within the dichotomy of superiority and inferiority. She furthermore demands to be treated as a whole, a subjective individual with an identity. The protagonist's awareness and realization of her situation becomes threatening knowledge to the essence of patriarchy; a source of power, according to Michel Foucault (1977), that constitutes different effects such as confinement and ‘institutions of discipline’ as a result of the conflict between the normal Subject and the different Object. He moreover employs science for the conception and understanding of such relations, which result in either ‘madness’ or ‘law’; social dilemmas are treated with either hospitals or punished through the legal system; prison. In 'The Yellow Wallpaper', Gilman does not hesitate from using physical and mental confinement as an alternative place for the Othered woman and her condemnation to psychological death, as her protagonist is accused of being hysterical, thus condemned to imprisonment. She however uses 'Bed Rest' as a remedy or alternative for curing the socio- psychological ills of her patriarchal society through the protagonist's claim of selfhood. This seems to suggest that the only escape for a woman from the constraints of her culture would be through submitting herself wholly to the treatment in order to place herself beyond the reach of men and women; hence ridding herself from the influence of patriarchal society and the traditional role of obedience and weakness she is driven to project. At the beginning of her treatment, the protagonist confronts her husband with her feeling of discomfort and irritation with the sickly color and the sense of imprisonment that the bar-like striped wallpaper projects. But when she suggests that her husband changes it, she is faced with opposition as she would be '[…] letting it get the better of [… her], and that nothing was worse for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies' (Gilman 2010:3). The protagonist describes the pattern as manifesting strange beings, nonsensical to the rational eye; she describes it as 'a lack of sequence, a defiance of law, that is a constant irritant to a normal mind', as she sees a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. […] Up and down and sideways 34

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere (ibid:4). With the passing days well into her treatment, the eyes that she constantly sees in the wallpaper start developing into 'a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design' (ibid:5). The formless figure soon develops into a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern [… she] seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out. […] she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern – it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads (ibid:7-10). The sense of imprisonment that the bars initially give the protagonist is soon replaced with a growing interest in understanding its dimensions, especially when she discovers 'things in that paper that nobody knows but [… her], or ever will', eventually leading to her determination in destroying the bars (ibid:10). Thus, instead of having her tamed into patriarchy, the protagonist creatively resolves to rebellion by manipulating every representation of patriarchy to her own advantage even if it means freeing the woman she sees from the restraints of the bars. The protagonist also starts realizing that the woman she sees behind bars is a manifestation of her own psyche. She does not merely see herself imprisoned behind bars, but starts seeing other women like herself trapped within the confinement of a corrupt system. Therefore, she decides to free herself and other women, but in secret as she does not want the interference of society in the development of her newly formed and creative Self. She asserts: I wasn't alone a bit! […] that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her. I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper [….] there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast. I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did? […] it is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please! (ibid:12-15). The protagonist clearly becomes one with the woman behind bars. As she frees her she starts crawling the way the woman does. The act of crawling instead of walking on the one hand projects the image of an active child acquiring knowledge before it takes its first steps into the rational world of society. On the other hand, crawling and creeping could be interpreted as resembling an unleashed wild animal. In either case, the image that the protagonist starts acting out embodies her newly born Self that goes beyond the fixed dichotomies set by patriarchy and forced upon her and other women. In a society internalized as a man’s world where a woman does not belong; she is considered an impostor and has to naturalize the way she is looked at. As a growing woman questioning her being and locating herself within society, she is on a mission to exceed the set dichotomies of male/female and subject/object, therefore jeopardizing the power of manhood as it is only meaningful in relation to the woman's femininity. The protagonist claiming 35

Ammari 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in the ... power and much more than her mandated femininity takes her beyond the realm of her gendered image; by refraining from being what patriarchy wants her to be, the male loses his only weapon, his manhood as the very symbol of its power and existence is gone forever with the advent of female subjectivity. As illustrated in the story, John is shocked at the sight of the protagonist crawling across the room and saying 'I've got out at last […] in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!' (ibid:14). His rational mind does not comprehend her irrational act and so he faints as described by the protagonist: 'Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!' (ibid:14). John sees his wife as a subjective being, so he realizes that his subjectivity, which his own identity and manhood within the patriarchal system depend on, is based on a fake assumption made up by an oppressive system. Thus, by projecting the opposite of the intended outcome of bed rest, the protagonist elevates herself to the same level of subjectivity which allows her to compete with the authoritative power in control, the physician and husband carrying out the treatment. Consequently, John faints as he is unprepared for such retaliation. The fact that he faints across her path should ideally pause as an obstacle, but it does not force her to deviate from her chosen path. She consequently resolves to crawling over him; an act that confirms her Self affirmation and psychological empowerment unaffected by patriarchy anymore. This form of female resistance becomes what Foucault (1983:208) suggests is A chemical catalyst so as to bring to light power relations, locate their position, and find out their point of application and the methods used. Rather than analyzing power from the point of view of its internal rationality, it consists of analyzing power relations through the antagonism of strategies. Gilman in this sense allows her protagonist, through her vivid depiction of the period of bed rest, the Self-realization of her power of balancing her femininity with her mind. This balanced space is described by Bhabha as the elevation of one's otherness from its hierarchized dichotomous trap onto a fluid space of an ‘in-between’. 4. Breaking Out into the In-Between Bhabha (1994:2) suggests that: What is theoretically innovative, and politically crucial, is the need to think beyond narratives of originary and initial subjectivities and to focus on those moments or processes that are produced in the articulation of cultural differences. These ‘in-between’ spaces provide the terrain for elaborating strategies of selfhood – singular or communal – that initiate new signs of identity [… which define] the idea of society itself. Simultaneously, Bhabha suggests that individuals who are oppressed in any form can situate themselves in an ‘in-between’ through the very concept of difference. They can formulate ‘strategies of representation or empowerment’, 36

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 strategies which can also work for the benefit of women as oppressed beings of a society in spite of their individual differences and needs. Although Gilman's protagonist is secluded and oppressed by the hierarchical system, she still manages to change the meanings of the oppressive tools that were originally used against her and other women of society in order to serve her aim for liberation. The protagonist turns the once oppressive cultural tools of the patriarchal tradition into a space that she crucially and earnestly needs to firstly rid the influence of patriarchy on her mind, and secondly by allowing herself the space to reevaluate and place her newly formed self in society as neither oppressor, nor oppressed, but as a whole individual owning her own indigenous identity. Bhabha (ibid:2-3) quotes Renee Green’s demonstration of the fluid movement of the in-between in her own writing as she says: I wanted to make shapes or set up situations that are kind of open [….] My work has a lot to do with a kind of fluidity, a movement back and forth, not making a claim to any specific or essential way of being. Green is quoted at this point because of her positioning as an African-American artist. She too aims in her work at displacing herself from and dismantling binarisms, of being the prisoner of either/or, and instead situates herself in the ‘in-between’ which Bhabha describes. She gives herself access to visit both binaries and situates herself in them as neither/nor and both at the same time. Green becomes what Bhabha suggests is ‘the process of symbolic interaction, the connective tissue that constructs the difference between [… either side]’ (ibid:4). Gilman's protagonist similarly does not have to stay victim of an oppressive tradition, nor does she have to blindly imitate her oppressor. Instead, she represents herself as an open space or a bridge between both, moderating both extremes, in order to have free access to both sides. The protagonist thus keeps on renewing and redefining herself constantly because when she refuses to follow certain ways, she starts locating herself as a presence and defines herself as a subjective being. Bhabha explains that with the process of ‘presencing’ by locating an ‘in-between’, oppressed beings can bring the binary oppressive sides closer to one another, and develop an intimate relationship between the ‘private and public, past and present, the psyche and the social’; a relationship that questions the authority of hierarchical binaries and allows space for other possibilities (ibid:13). In conclusion, 'The Yellow Wallpaper' becomes the umbilical cord which connects Gilman to the women of her society. The use of scientific fact in her story also affirms her existence as it creates interaction with men which is gradually normalized as new ethics and attitudes may develop. The story is thus a projection of an awareness of the practice of gendered binarism in patriarchal societies, a practice that confines and restricts the essence of individuality for men and women, and requires reevaluation. 37

Ammari 'Bed Rest' Challenged: A Liberating Treatment in the ... Deema Ammari Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Foreign Languages University of Jordan References Allen, Judith A. (2009). The Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Sexualities, Histories, Progressivism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bhabha, Homi K. (1994). The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge Classics. Bilston, Sarah. (2006). Bed Rest. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Brennan, Teresa. (1988). ‘Controversial Discussions and Feminist Debates’. In Edward Timms and Naomi Segal (eds.), Freud in Exile: Psychoanalysis and its Vicissitudes. London: Yale University Press. Burr, A.R. (1929). Weir Mitchell: His Life and Letters. New York: Duffield. Chodorow, Nancy. (1978). The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. California: Berkeley. Dercum, Francis Xafier. (1917). Rest, Suggestion and Other Therapeutic Measures in Nervous and Mental Disorders. Philadelphia: P. Blakistan's Son. Dinnerstein, Dorothy. (1976). The Rocking of the Cradle and the Ruling of the World. London: Women’s Press. Foucault, Michel. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Alan Sheridan (trans.). Harmondsworth: Penguin. Foucault, Michel. (1983). 'The Subject and Power’. In Hubert L. Dreyfus and Paul Rabinaw (eds.), Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 208-228. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. (2010). The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. Washington: Pacific Publishing Studio. Irigaray, Luce Irigaray. (1985). Speculum of the Other Woman. Gillian C. Gill (trans.). New York: Ithaca. Laplanche, Jean and Jean-Bertrand Pontalis, ‘The Language of Psycho- Analysis’. (1973). In Victor Burgin, James Donald and Cora Kaplan (eds.), Formations of Fantasy. London: Methuen & Co. Mitchell, Juliet. (1974). Psychoanalysis and Feminism. London: Allen Lane. Mitchell, Silas Weir. (1878). Fat and Blood: And How to Make Them. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott. Said, Edward. (1993). Culture and Imperialism. London: Chatto and Windus Ltd. Walter, Richard D. (1970). S. Weir Mitchell, M.D. – Neurologist. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas. 38

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 Making Connections in a Changing World: A European Language Education and Assessment Perspective Mats Oscarson University of Gothenburg, Sweden “Questions of language are basically questions of power.” Noam Chomsky (1979) Abstract: The need for improved conditions for learning and better intercultural communication is recognised worldwide. A noteworthy example of responses to the need is the Council of Europe’s longstanding work undertaken in order to promote linguistic diversity and language learning in member states (Council of Europe, 2007). Extensive development work has been conducted in pursuit of this. Examples are the formulation of principles for the description of goals for language learning (van Ek & Trim, 1991), the elaboration of a comprehensive Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR (Council of Europe, 2011a), and the production of a model for a European Language Portfolio (Council of Europe, 2011b). This paper illustrates some of the work done and relates it to the general theme of the Conference “Power to Connect in a Changing World” (University of Jordan, 2014). It concludes by making the point that language study is an endeavour that leads to enhanced learner empowerment and improved intercultural. Keywords: language assessment, CEFR, language portfolio, ELP, Dialang, self- assessment, empowerment 1. Introduction The theme of a conference I attended was Power to Connect in a Changing (1) World. What is it that gives you such power? Well, one obvious answer is: Command of language. If you have that command, you can make connections. Even if everything else changes. Like the whole world. In this paper I will elaborate on this theme from the foreign language point of view and will also provide support for my arguments by reviewing some illustrative research and development work, primarily in the area of language assessment. Since I am most familiar with what happens in Europe, I will mainly be offering a European language education and assessment perspective. Europe of course is characterised by a wide diversity of languages, cultures, and educational traditions, so the assessment of linguistic needs and abilities is crucially important there, as it is in so many other regions of our world. It is a significant factor in the strategic analysis and evolvement of language policy and practice. So my starting points are these: x We live in a world that changes very rapidly, not least in respect of the growing degree of social and economic interdependence between people and nations. 39

Oscarson Making Connections in a Changing World: A European ... x Promoting the development of more effective interpersonal and international communication capabilities is therefore an urgent necessity. It is a condition for the optimal development of our world and our living conditions. x The level of attained linguistic ability is the most important variable when it comes to establishing effective communication. The key question then is: How can we take on the challenge of the need for improved contacts and communication in a fast changing world? Various solutions may be contemplated, but the most obvious answer that comes to mind is this: We should, above all, promote and enhance verbal communication skills, i.e. we need to strive for better knowledge of languages. Above all, it is the functional skills and the practical command of both receptive and expressive forms of language that need to be brought into focus. For the overriding goal of enhanced communication skills to be realised, certain courses of action need to be taken. We should, for example, (1) support learners’ interest in language study, both in and out of formal education contexts (2) develop better strategies for teaching and learning (3) try to find better ways of determining levels of learning, both in individual and collective perspectives; that is, we need to put more emphasis on furthering assessment skills among teachers and other educators concerned with language learning – and even among the learners themselves (4) improve our language tests and other formal methods of assessment What I have to say in this paper touches on all of these issues, but it is primarily to do with the role of assessments of FL abilities in empowering people to connect in a changing world. Even though I will present this from a European perspective in the first place, most of what I will be saying has rather wider relevance and applicability. I should also say that what I can present is a very limited picture. It consists merely of some examples of principles and practices that have been discussed, tried out, and put to wider use. I can also offer a hypothesis about their possible significance in relation to the theme of the conference. 2. Council of Europe and European Union work 2.1 Brief general background The question of cross-national communication and language learning needs has been on the agenda of the Council of Europe for a long time. The key role of languages came into focus in the 1960’s when the first of a series of Modern languages projects was started, in association with many CoE member countries. The key person behind these projects was Dr John Trim, the Project Director, who worked in collaboration with many colleagues in the field (J. van Ek, D. Coste, H. Holec, R. Richterich, D. Wilkins, L.G. Alexander, J. Shiels, B. North, and many others). Some of the guiding principles that the group of experts acted on were: 40

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 x Language is first of all a means for communication between people; a functional/notional approach to language learning (Wilkins, 1976; Munby, 1978) is preferable in this perspective. x Linguistic diversity must be respected; plurilingualism is a desirable goal. x Support of language learning in adulthood (in a lifelong perspective) is very important. x Empowerment of the learner should be promoted, for instance through encouragement of autonomous learning and self-assessment of abilities and achievement. It was stressed that the teaching of languages should be learner-centred, with a view to developing autonomy, and that it should emphasise practical command of the language, in real-life situations. This is a philosophy that has been endorsed in many contexts of language education to this day. Significant progress has been made in many areas of language policy, language education, and language assessment. Examples include: x The description of goals for language learning, resulting for instance in the design and development of a Threshold level for English (van Ek 1975; van Ek & Trim, 1991) x The elaboration of a comprehensive Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001) x The production of a European Language Portfolio (Little, 2009) x The organization of a series of workshops for language teachers centred on the principles for language learning developed by the CoE Initiatives taken have attracted much attention, both in and beyond Europe. Steering documents in the educational sector, such as curricula and syllabuses, as well as principles and standards for testing and assessment (in language programmes and language examinations), have been greatly influenced by ideas and reports coming out of the Council of Europe. This is particularly true of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is an attempt to provide a tool for communication about language teaching and learning, and for reporting test and assessment results (see below). 2.2 Practical developments and products So this was a thumb-nail sketch of the general background. I will now turn to commenting more concretely on some of the work that has been undertaken and illustrate what has been achieved. I will start with the CEFR. 2.2.1 The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages An aim of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is to Dz‘˜‡”…‘‡ –Š‡ barriers to communicationdzǡ ‘” to help people achieve “the power to connect”, if you like. It does this by discussing language learning and teaching in general, and by defining different stages in language learning, for the benefit of practitioners of all kinds in the language field 41

Oscarson Making Connections in a Changing World: A European ... (educators, materials producers, testing agencies, the learners themselves). It enables clear communication across different educational systems and educational sectors, much thanks to the fact that it has been translated into as (2) many as some 40 languages, including Arabic . Š‡ ‹• ™‹†‡Ž› ƒ†‘’–‡† ‹ —”‘’‡ǡ ‡•’‡…‹ƒŽŽ› ƒ– –Š‡ ’‘Ž‹…› Ž‡˜‡Ž ƒ† ‹ –Š‡ …‘–‡š– ‘ˆ ƒ••‡••‡–ǡ ƒ• ”‡’‘”–‡† „›ǡ ˆ‘” ‹•–ƒ…‡ǡ the European Union (2013)Ǥ Among other things, the CEFR defines six levels of foreign language ability for “Common Reference”: from level A1 (also known as the Breakthrough level) through levels A2, B1, B2, C1, and to the highest level, denoted C2 (also known as the Mastery level). In addition, it defines three ‘plus’ levels (A2+, B1+, B2+). Each level is determined by a number of descriptors that specify characteristic instances of actual language use. The aim of the development of scales was, among other things, to make it possible to compare tests and examinations, both across different languages and across regional and national boundaries. Š‹Ž‡ –Š‡”‡ ‹• —…Š ‘”‡ –‘ ‹–ǡ –Š‡ •›•–‡ ‹• ’”‡†‘‹ƒ–Ž› –Š‘—‰Š– ‘ˆ ‹ –‡”• ‘ˆ –Š‡•‡ •…ƒŽ‡• ‘ˆ ’”‘ˆ‹…‹‡…› ƒ† –Š‡‹” †‡•…”‹’–‘”•Ǥ Š‡”‡ ƒ”‡ǡ ‹ ƒŽŽǡ ͷ͵ †‹ˆˆ‡”‡– •…ƒŽ‡•Ǥ Š‡› Šƒ˜‡ǡ ‹ ˜ƒ”‹‘—• ™ƒ›•ǡ „‡‡ —•‡† ‹ ˜‡”› ’”ƒ…–‹…ƒŽ †‡˜‡Ž‘’‡– ™‘”ǡ ‡Ǥ‰Ǥ –Š‡ ƒ† ǡ –‘ ™Š‹…Š ™‹ŽŽ ”‡–—” „‡Ž‘™Ǥ Š‡ ǯ• •…ƒŽ‡• ƒ”‡ ƒ……‘’ƒ‹‡† „› ƒ †‡–ƒ‹Ž‡† ƒƒŽ›•‹• ‘ˆ …‘—‹…ƒ–‹˜‡ …‘–‡š–•ǡ –Š‡‡•ǡ –ƒ••ǡ ƒ† ’—”’‘•‡• –Šƒ– ’”‘˜‹†‡• ƒ —•‡ˆ—Ž ’”‹…‹’Ž‡† „ƒ•‹• ˆ‘” †‹•…—••‹‘ ‘ˆ Žƒ‰—ƒ‰‡ Ž‡ƒ”‹‰ ‹••—‡•Ǥ Š‹• ‹• ’ƒ”– ‘ˆ –Š‡ ‡š’Žƒƒ–‹‘ ˆ‘” ™Š› –Š‡ …‘…‡’– ‹• ‹…”‡ƒ•‹‰Ž› —•‡† ‹ –‡ƒ…Š‡” ‡†—…ƒ–‹‘ǡ ‹ –Š‡ ”‡ˆ‘” ‘ˆ ˆ‘”‡‹‰ Žƒ‰—ƒ‰‡ …—””‹…—Žƒ ƒ† •›ŽŽƒ„—•‡•ǡ ƒ† ‹ –Š‡ †‡˜‡Ž‘’‡– ‘ˆ –‡ƒ…Š‹‰ ƒ–‡”‹ƒŽ• ȋ•‡‡ ˆ‘” ‹•–ƒ…‡ ƒ”–›‹— Ƭ ‘‹Œ‘•ǡ ʹͲͲ͹ǡ ‘ ƒ •—”˜‡› ‘ˆ ‹–• ƒ’’Ž‹…ƒ–‹‘ ƒ† —•‡ …ƒ””‹‡† ‘—– ‹ ʹͲͲ͸ ƒ‘‰ ‘—…‹Ž ‘ˆ —”‘’‡ ‡„‡” •–ƒ–‡•ȌǤ A number of European countries indicate expected minimal exit levels at the end of compulsory and upper secondary school in terms of the CEFR scheme. Curriculum development has benefitted from the advances that have been made on the basis of CEFR-related discussion and research. More and more national authorities and language testing agencies use it as their frame of reference. It is often treated as an important subject in teacher training. The success that the CEFR has enjoyed does not mean that it has not also met with some criticism. Fulcher (2004), for instance, talks of a double agenda at work in this enterprise and cautions that language testing may here be made to serve political and social ends (p 263), i.e. in addition to contributing guidelines for professional practice. He also maintains that the descriptor scales are “atheoretical” and insufficiently based on empirical evidence, the assumption being that they are of unproven value. Still, there is no doubt that the CEFR has had a very great impact on language education, both in national and international perspectives. Particularly in many countries in Europe it is seen as the standard reference document for 42

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 teaching and testing languages, corresponding to the role the ACTFL document (3) ’Guidelines’ has in the US (Liskin-Gasparro, 2003) . Especially the scales are very much in evidence. Many European school systems have adopted, or have been influenced by, the proposed scheme of objectives and levels. This is reported in, for instance, a recent study investigating its use “in examination, curriculum development, schoolbooks and teacher training” in six countries (European Union, 2013). It was found that the CEFR “is widely used by both private providers that offer modern foreign language courses and language assessment organisations” (p 12). Readers interested in samples of performance levels in different European languages (Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish) may wish to visit www.webcef.eu. Further concrete details about the CEFR and its development and use can also be found at the address https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL33753FF2F7614EC0. On offer here is an interview with the late Director of Council of Europe language projects, Dr John Trim, talking to Dr Nick Saville on the history of the language education work undertaken by the CoE. An overview of the impact of the CEFR on teaching and assessment as well as the extensive debate surrounding the framework is given in North (2014). Š‡ ‹• ™‹†‡Ž› ƒ†‘’–‡† ‹ —”‘’‡ǡ ‡•’‡…‹ƒŽŽ› ƒ– –Š‡ ’‘Ž‹…› Ž‡˜‡Ž ƒ† ‹ –Š‡ …‘–‡š– ‘ˆ ƒ••‡••‡–Ǥ We can thus conclude that the CEFR now plays a central role in European language education policy, and to a certain extent in the wider world as well. The CoE goals of fostering multilingualism, mobility across borders, autonomous and lifelong learning, as well as contributing to greater transparency of proficiency levels, have been pursued with considerable success and have no doubt led to enhanced empowerment of the language learner. 2.2.2 The Manual All over the world there have been cases of test agencies and educational authorities claiming that their tests are linked to the CEFR, the implication being that a given score on the test in question can be directly translated into a CEFR level. But questions are sometimes raised as to how valid such claims are. What is the evidence? And what means and methods exist to link tests and examinations to the CEFR? The CoE Manual for relating Language Examinations to the CEFR (Council of Europe, 2009) is a source that can provide answers to these kinds of queries. Like a number of other publications from the CoE, the Manual seeks to “facilitate cooperation among relevant institutions and experts in member countries” (p 1). Its more precise aim is to clarify what justifies a claim that an examination or test is linked to the CEFR. The intention behind it is not to show how a good language tests should be constructed, or how proficiency should be assessed in relation to the CEFR. It is merely a manual for relating tests and assessments to one another, through the mediation of the CEFR. 43

Oscarson Making Connections in a Changing World: A European ... Judging by the circulation of this publication, and the frequent referencing to it, the perceived significance of recognized CEFR-related tests and examinations is strong. The fact that testing companies and examination bodies tend to use their alignment data when publicizing their products attests to this. The manual facilitates communication between CEFR users, test developers, and other parties involved in language assessment. 2.2.3 DIALANG The CEFR has had a particular influence on language assessment. A case in point is DIALANG, an online language testing system developed with the support of the European Communities between the years 1996 and 2004. The aim of the undertaking was to deliver a self-diagnostic instrument for aligning language learners on the CEFR. DIALANG is based squarely on the CEFR scale. It comprises tests in 14 European languages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. It offers in each of them, and free of charge, tests in reading, writing, listening, vocabulary, and grammar. The test system was officially launched in 2004. It is delivered over the Internet, online, and can be downloaded via the project Web site http://www.lancs.ac.uk/researchenterprise/dialang/about hosted at Lancaster University. DIALANG connects with the world “very easily”, as reported by Lancaster. Let´s have quick look at the test procedure. These are the steps involved in the diagnosis: x Selection of a language and a skill for diagnostic testing x A Vocabulary Size Placement Test is administered. > Feedback/Result: One out of six different bands of ability x Can Do self-assessments (for reading, writing, and listening only) x Level of testing is decided (on the basis of the results of the VSPT and self-assessments) x The Diagnostic Test is given (’Easy’, ’Medium’ or ’Difficult’) x Feedback: Test results in terms of a CEF level, item review, Check your answers, … x Self-assessment feedback provides reasons why SA and test result may not match (depends on how often you use the language, on how you use the language, etc). Advisory feedback is also provided. Some of these features are not usually found in other language assessment systems, e.g. the principle of complete user self-management, round-the-clock availability, instant reporting of results, a full range of levels of testing, feedback on self-assessments, and – after the testing – advice on how to reach the next level of performance. It may be added that test instructions can be provided in any of the target languages included. It is a truly useful tool in the hands of the under-resourced language learner and many other users of languages. 44

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 It should be noted that DIALANG is not an exam and it does not issue certificates. It is specifically intended for personal use on a self-assessment basis. In the spirit of previous work with CoE materials, the express purpose is self-diagnosis of proficiency. DIALANG is a tool for the learner, for his or her own information and not, at least not in the first place, for somebody else’s information. It is thus a low-stakes test as seen from the “external” point of view, but can be quite an important measurement instrument in the learner’s own perspective. On the DIALANG web-page we are informed that there are, on average, “more than 500 successful test sessions per day, and over 1,000 on some days”. This goes to prove that there is a need for a tool of this kind, where anyone can assess his or her verbal proficiency on a perfectly private and independent basis. All of the 14 languages on offer are diagnosed in the same way and at the same difficulty levels, with scores reported in all of the six CEFR bands of ability encompassed. This provides an opportunity for interlanguage comparisons for users who have an interest in setting their knowledge of a certain language against that of another. The system makes provision for this kind of exercise. Lately a web-based version the test system, developed at Lancaster, has been made available for beta testing. Anyone interested in trying this out is referred to the website http://dialangweb.lancaster.ac.uk. Further information on DIALANG and its use may be obtained at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/researchenterprise/dialang/about 2.2.4 The European Language Portfolio In education, the concept of portfolio refers to a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits a student’s effort, progress, achievements and competencies gained during some course of study. Its physical form may, for instance, be a folder or binder that contains a learner's best pieces of work and the learner's assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces. It may also contain samples of work in progress illustrating the creation of a product. In language learning, this product may for example be a story or an essay, evolving through different stages of drafting and revision. A resource of this kind is the European Language Portfolio, or ELP for short. It is intended to be used both for teaching and assessment purposes, and this too uses the CEFR as its frame of reference (Schneider & Lenz, 2000: Little, 2009). Again, the learners are themselves involved in the estimation of their learning through reflecting on and self-assessing their production and performance. The underlying rationale is that if they become better at this, they will also be better, or more “powerful”, learners. So learner autonomy, in the form of self-reflective learning, is a major focus in ELP philosophy. Another characteristic is the CEFR’s action-oriented approach to the description of L2 proficiency, using so-called Can-do statements (descriptors). These request learners to state their perceived ability to master 45

Oscarson Making Connections in a Changing World: A European ... practical language-use situations specified. For example: ”I can use simple phrases and sentences to describe where I live and people I know.” The CoE inventory of Can-dos have been translated into many languages, including Arabic. The aims and functions of the ELP are: x Pedagogical, i.e. with a view to fostering learner autonomy, to enhancing motivation, and to giving learners training in the skill of ‘learning to learn’. The aim is also to support their ability to self-assess their progress of learning and their results. x Reporting, i.e. with a view to creating a record of the skills learners have acquired. The main parts of the ELP are … - a Language passport where learners can record their language qualifications, their experience of using different languages, and their assessments of own language proficiency, based usually on the self-evaluation grid in the CEFR, - a Language biography which helps the learner to set learning targets, to record and reflect on language learning and on intercultural experiences, and regularly assess progress; includes checklists of CEFR-related Can-Do statements + a global self-assessment grid - a Dossier where the learner can keep samples of personal work in the form of projects, stories, essays, video/sound tape recordings, IT documentation, learning logs etc. The ELP is an impressing project, with a plethora of useful products in many languages. It has, however, not been too successful as a pedagogical tool and has not been used as much as expected in schools. One problem that may explain this is the fact that the introduction of it has not been all that well prepared at a central level. There has been too little information about it, and there seems, in particular, to have been inadequate guidance for teachers (while such is provided on the Council of Europe ELP homepage). On the other hand the Portfolio has been found quite useful in the teaching of certain subjects, as well as in the teaching of certain groups (cf for instance Little, 2002, on the teaching of languages to refuges in Ireland). It may be added that the teaching portfolio has a well-established position in US education. Therefore, all things considered, it seems safe to say that the portfolio methodology is a worthwhile concept in language education. It really caught on in the CoE language policy context, and the results in terms of an international organization of efforts, and of materials output, were very considerable. Its history also shows the advantage of joining forces: a large proportion of member states were able to demonstrate their ability to unite in the development of an idea of common interest, across linguistic, cultural, and national boundaries. That is, the idea of collectively making provision for better language learning and more enabling language assessment again proved fruitful. The ELP exists in a range of languages and in most of them in different versions for different age groups (including young learners). In all, there are more than a hundred versions of it. Between 2001 and 2010, a total of 118 ELP 46

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 models were validated and accredited by the Council of Europe. The full versions of more than 50 of them can be downloaded from the CoE: http://elp.ecml.at/Portfolios/tabid/2370/language/en-GB/Default.aspx 2.2.5 The European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) There is also available a European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL). This builds on insights from the CEFR and the ELP as well as the EU-financed project European Profile for Language Teacher Education – A Frame of Reference (Profile). It is intended for students undergoing their initial teacher education. It x encourages them to reflect on their didactic knowledge and skills x helps them to assess their own didactic competences x enables them to monitor their progress and to record their experiences of teaching during the course of their teacher education. The EPOSTL can be downloaded from the CoE at: http://www.ecml.at/tabid/277/PublicationID/16/Default.aspx 3. Conclusion and discussion To sum up: In this paper I have illustrated some work undertaken in Europe in the area of education and, in particular, in the assessment of language knowledge. I have tried to relate this work to the general theme of this Conference, i.e. that of “Power to Connect in a Changing World”. What are the conclusions we can draw from the European efforts I have reviewed? To begin with I think it’s fair to say that the results achieved have facilitated communication between people and nations. This is particularly obvious in the case of language education and the CEFR. The reception of work in this project has been remarkably positive. The main report (Council of Europe, 2001) is now one of the most influential documents in the field of language teaching in Europe. The CEFR concept has also gained considerable interest in many other parts of the world. The CEFR proficiency scales are widely used as a general reference scheme, in several contexts. For instance: x In language curricula x In instructional guidance materials x In teacher education x In language education discourse x In testing and assessment Designations such as ‘a level B2 course’ or ‘a level C1 examination’ are widely interpretable these days, even in a fairly global sense. The assessment function of the CEFR has thus given us some extra power to connect in the language education world, across linguistic, cultural and national boundaries, as well as across different educational systems. By means 47

Oscarson Making Connections in a Changing World: A European ... of this elaborate conceptual and concrete language instruction tool we can situate, discuss, and communicate our educational aims and results in a way that was not possible only a couple of decades ago. The other language education and language assessment achievements I have referred to, DIALANG and the ELP, which very much build on the CEFR concept, also contribute to improved communication between stakeholders in the field (learners and educators in the first place): x DIALANG does this as a proved model for self-managed foreign language assessment referenced to a very widely known proficiency scale (i.e. the CEFR), and x the ELP has the potential to further the same goal as a likewise learner- centered assessment tool, but also when used as a device for storing and communicating evidence of experiences and achievements in language learning. Both enjoy cross-national recognition and validity and they should, each in their own way, help to enhance the linguistic empowerment of the language user. This is very much in keeping with the declared aims of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. The reasons for why the results of the European language education initiatives have been so successful seem to be quite variable. A major one is probably the level of concreteness at which the task in hand has been approached in the projects, both in respect of the specification of goals and in the models for monitoring and assessing goal achievement. In both endeavours, very explicit and easily comprehensible concepts and terminology have been used for the purpose of securing clarity of objectives, and also in order to make project work as explicit and transparent as possible. This, in combination with the fact that quite pressing and universally felt learning needs were placed at centre stage, instigated prompt and focused action. Another factor is the happy marriage between theory and practice as represented by the close cooperation between members of different professional orientations in the many project groups. Very practical language education issues were dealt with and solved on the basis of sound theoretical grounds. A further propitious factor is the truly international character of the undertaking. Representatives of quite a large number of the 47 Council of Europe member states took an active part in various phases of the successively developing language scheme. This implied that the project could benefit from rich conceptual and empirical input for new ideas, which in turn resulted in end products that were often quite innovative and mostly well devised and tested. Finally, some other research and development activities that reflect a European and international education perspective, for instance assessments undertaken for general evaluation purposes in the school sector, are also worth mentioning. In Europe, as in many other parts of in the world, comparative studies of student achievement, such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and IEA (The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement), are becoming increasingly important as indicators 48

International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) Vol. 15, 2014 of educational standards. Work in this sphere of education holds out a great deal of hope for continued international competence building and cooperation in many subject areas, including languages. So I will end on much the same note as I started. Language study is an endeavour that leads to enhanced learner empowerment and improved intercultural communication. This is particularly so if it can be pursued within a conceptual system or framework that supports transparent evaluation of results and easy comparison of targets and procedures across organizational structures. There is no doubt that this view has been borne out by recent developments on the European language education and assessment scene. Endnotes 1 This is a revised version of a keynote given at the conference Power to Connect in a Changing World, organized by the Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Jordan, in collaboration with the Association of Professors of English and Translation at Arab Universities, and the Voices in Asia Journal, April 22-24, 2014. 2 The Arabic version of it is, according to the CoE homepage, available at Adam Bookshop, Maadi Grand Mall - B1, Shops No. 124 & 140, Cairo/Egypt; e-mail: [email protected] / www.adambookshop.com (and probably elsewhere, too; relevant national authorities and/or publishers are responsible for the dissemination) 3 ACTFL: the American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages (www.actfl.org) Mats Oscarson Snäckeskärsgatan 10 SE-42157 V. Frölunda Sweden Email address: [email protected] References Chomsky, Noam. (1979). Language and responsibility. Sussex: Harvester Press. Council of Europe. (2001). The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (see also: http://www.coe.int) Council of Europe. (2009). Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR). A Manual. http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/manuel1_en.asp#Manual van Ek, Jan. (1975). Threshold level English. Strasbourg: Council of Europe publishing. 49

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