https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/7685 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 15:55:21 GMT 2026-04-05T15:55:21Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/104213 Title: Attitudes, motivation and methodology preferences when learning English : a contrastive analysis between Arabs and Nubians in Egypt Abstract: Rural Arabs’, urban Arabs’ and rural Nubians’ were explored and contrasted in Egypt. By ‘attitude’, participants’ views, perceptions, feelings and experiences were solicited regarding native speakers of English and their countries, ‘Western’ culture, values and lifestyle, in addition to the specific attitude towards English as a language. The theoretical underpinning, while analyzing attitudes towards English in this thesis was based and developed following established theories that present English in its expanding role as a ‘language of imperialism’. This theory, stipulating English’s hegemonic role that may weaken indigenous languages and pushes fragile cultures to extinction, was of particular importance, for example when considering Nubian society, culture and language. In direct contrast, the possibility of English being used as a ‘linguistic and sociocultural counterbalance’ by Nubians versus Arabic and the dominant Arab cultural group was also a reality that was explored. The underlying working theory for this segment of the thesis was based on issues of language and power. In this scenario English may present as an aid, a linguistic tool for pedagogy to an oppressed cultural group: specifically the Nubians suffering from cultural erosion due to Arabic’s hegemonic presence. Therefore Nubian’s attitudes towards the greater presence of English in their community were particularly solicited: was English an additional infringement on their social, cultural and linguistic heritage, or was the attitude towards English positive, seen as a harbinger of new and expanding opportunities? The three cohorts were also examined and compared for their motivation for learning English, this being fully integrated and contrasted with established theories on motivation for language learning around the world. These theories explore positive role as seen by learners of English in both interpersonal and transactional sociocultural domains. In this study, ‘motivation’ describes the ensemble of factors that drive learners of English to initiate or improve their language level. Thus, interpersonal motivation refers to those which explore learners wishes to know more about art, literature, world news and culture and a broad spectrum of world affairs and phenomena, with the underlying desire for the learners to connect ‘self’ with ‘the rest of the world’. Conversely, transactional motivation refers to the underlying drive for learners to utilize English as a tool for furthering their technical training and skills, formal education and the general package of factors needed for bettering their opportunities for employment and financial security and bettering their career. Learners' preferences for different learning methods in the English class were also explored, particularly as Nubian and Arab students often share the same class, and generally having Arab teachers. Arabic is the compulsory language of instruction which may disadvantage Nubian learners following a curriculum as prescribed by Arab policies and using Arabic contextualization while teaching. The working rationale underpinning this aspect of the thesis is based on the reality that teaching methodologies in Egypt for English focus on the traditionally more prestigious language skills for Arabs: reading and writing. These methodologies are therefore preferred to the more communicative approaches currently used in many contemporary English classrooms. Non-communicative approaches may not necessarily reflect Nubians' preferred learning methods for learning English, accustomed to learning L1 through communicative methods. These factors, when compounded may seriously disadvantage Nubian learners in the classroom, adding to the sociocultural disadvantageous situation and further cultural erosion and cultural decay. These ideas are linked to issues of language, education and power, which are simultaneously reflected on learners# attitudes and motivation towards learning English as described above. The use of English as a language of instruction for subjects other than English was also explored. A Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach was considered to be practical and necessary by both Arabs and Nubians, and by highly-educated urbanites and rural people alike. Research in this study consisted of a chronologically overlapping set of different studies, thereby allowing triangulation of results. A period of acculturation and a sensitizing phase for the researcher preceded the actual studies, nurturing a sociocultural appreciation, and developing an understanding for the use of language in various domains. A mixed method approach, combining the strengths and qualities of both qualitative and quantitative studies was adopted. Qualitative studies commenced with the researcher's participant observation of rural Nubians in Upper Egyptian villages. This was followed by interviews held in Nubia, oases such as Fayoum, the Nile Delta and Cairo. Information stemming from these studies was pooled and processed via the general inductive approach, based on grounded theory. Description: PH.D.ENGLISH Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/104213 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/85967 Title: A case study on teacher talk during an English lesson within two schools in Malta Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the use of questions during English lessons within two different schools in Malta in order to discover the prominent types of questions employed within the two schools. The data was collected from two Junior Three classes in a State School and two Junior Three classes in an Independent school. Having researched several studies conducted to determine which questions were preferred in second language classrooms as well as the various taxonomies available to categorise different questions, I was able to categorise and analyse the data collected for this dissertation. The questions were classified according to their Linguistic and Cognitive functions for further analysis. As this research consisted of two small scale case studies it was not expected that any conclusions would be drawn which could extend beyond the case studies themselves however, the conclusions did indicate an interesting pattern which could, in future research, merit a larger scale study. The conclusions drawn from the two case studies illustrate that some 'types of questions' are indeed preferred over others, these being display questions and questions which drew upon students' cognitive 'knowledge'. It was also noted that context had an impact on the use of questions within the language classroom. This study, and any future larger scale studies, may prove useful in providing insight on a very relevant and widely used aspect of teacher talk. Description: B.A.(HONS)ENGLISH Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/85967 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/7729 Title: 'Time's wide wings' : concepts of time in British romantic poetry with particular reference to the work of John Keats Abstract: With a particular focus on Keats, this thesis explores some of the insights offered by British Romantic poetry into both the sense of time as experienced and lived by the individual and as described by history. Keats's work is placed in relation to some of the issues concerning temporality that were current during the Romantic Period in order to show how his creative endeavour both conforms to and resists its historical and cultural moment. This study therefore focuses on the ways some key arguments about time and history which Keats encountered within the cultural moment of English Romanticism, such as totalising models of progress and decline and relations between the past, present and future, are confirmed as well as reworked and tested in his poems so that multiple approaches to temporality are explored alongside each other. In addition, the thesis is especially concerned with the ways that Keats's explorations of time and history may be considered to collide with our own preoccupations, and proposes that contemporary readers of Keats may situate the concepts explored in his work alongside concerns and issues regarding temporality which are still being debated today. The central argument of the thesis is therefore that Romantic poetry, and Keats's work in particular, is as much concerned with the existential and with an engagement with the realities of life as it is with the aesthetic, and that the approach to temporality within these poems is complex and protean, capable of accommodating conflicting views, so that, as we read the poems today from our present vantage point, the issues they raise about temporality and history may be interwoven with contemporary debate, illuminating what most concerns us in our own time. Description: PH.D.ENGLISH Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/7729 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/7721 Title: Language and literature blended : a pro-active and engaging technique for Libyan learners' English speaking skills Abstract: This study sets out to introduce a new technique for the teaching of English within Libyan secondary schools. This technique promotes the use of literature as a useful resource in teaching English as a foreign language. The present study addresses the gap that exists in the English language teaching/learning in Libyan secondary schools, and illustrates how EFL learners' language skills can improve. The scope of the present study is to outline the advantages of using literature in language education by introducing a pedagogic stylistic approach with a view to helping EFL Libyan learners become more sensitive to the stylistic features and their function in the literary texts. Furthermore, it aims to encourage and push them toward being active participants in the learning process. In order to achieve this scope, a stylistic apparatus was designed and a literary text selected. The design of the apparatus involves two steps, a stylistic analysis of the text in focus and the creation of sets of tasks, the design of which is dependent on the analysis. Two key extracts from Hisham Matar's In the Country of Men were identified for this. For a structured stylistic analysis, Short's Foregrounding Framework was adopted. Based on the stylistic analysis, the present researcher designed stylistic apparatuses including: Pre-reading Task, First-reading Task, Indepth reading Task, and Discussion Task. These tasks were designed to guide both EFL teachers and learners during the reading process, and help them reach their individual and independent conclusions. This study will therefore help improve EFL teaching in Libyan schools. Description: M.A. ENGLISH Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/7721 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z