How teachers can help students’ fluency in English

For years, the very first humans could not communicate through language, so they drew pictures. It was their way of communicating. After language was developed, it created a way for humans to connect. Through this course, I studied many English Language Learners. I learned how their background affected their writing. I was eager to learn … Read more

Blank verse as a feature in poetry and prose

Blank verse is a literary device defined as un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter. As a feature in poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with ten syllables in each line (otherwise known as pentameter). In this, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones, five of which are stressed but do not follow a … Read more

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states that language shapes the cognitive processes and perceptions of individuals. This theory was first hypothesized by Benjamin Whorf, who believed language encompasses the cultural aspects of societies and enables effective and proper communication between its speakers. He believed that language and thought are inseparable, that language is influenced by thoughts and … Read more

Particular kinds of English should receive more attention than others

Topic: Particular kinds of English should receive more attention than others. Thesis: The English as Lingua Franca (ELF) emphasises on phonetics and pronunciation. This allows people with different native languages find a common ground. Thus, many turn to ELF for its communicative benefits. Hence, ELF is the most suitable English language variety to achieve a … Read more

Tropes – definition and examples

Tropes are figures of speech which give the words a new general meaning. Listed below are a few examples of tropes and what effect they have on the meanings of the words or phrases. A simile is an explicit comparison of two different topics, by transferring the meaning of the vehicle (donor of meaning) to … Read more

Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang and the movie Arrival

Adapted from the 1998 novel “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, the movie Arrival (2016) as the name suggests, is the story of an extraterrestrial invasion on earth. The movie follows a linguistics professor, a physicist and a team of US soldiers whose main goal is to find the reason for the aliens’ presence … Read more

Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart (letter suggesting inclusion in syllabus)

Dear RI English Head of Department, I am writing this letter to justify my view of why Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart should be included in the English literature curriculum for students in the school. Things Fall Apart is a Greek tragedy, where the main character’s moral flaws bring him to ruin in a … Read more

George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946

Orwell’s thesis acknowledges how writers use degraded and inaccurate language to express a thought. The modern form of English writing contains unnecessary elements, ultimately degrading the quality of a written text.  Furthermore, Orwell specifically explains the pretentious diction and meaningless words used in writing. Though Orwell’s thesis is evident throughout the passage, he does not … Read more

Attitudes of Saudi Students towards Native and Non-Native English Language Teachers at King Faisal University

Attitudes of Saudi Students towards Native and Non-Native English Language Teachers at King Faisal University 1. Introduction English is an international language and is now increasingly used as international and intercultural communication around the world. According to Graddol (2001), English is spoken as the second language by about 375 million speakers and as a foreign language … Read more

What text genres could be translated successfully by Machine Translation

Globalisation is continuing to spread and the demand for translators is higher than ever. The growth of globalisation comes alongside the demands for the increase of translators’ productivity, which means that more texts are expected to be translated in a shorter period of time. Therefore, automated translation – machine translation (MT) is nowadays increasingly used … Read more

Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene

Purpose ‘The Most ingenious, inventive and exciting of our novelists’ V.S. Pritchett, The Times The book is a detailed story of life changing as well as moral crisis of Henry Scobie. Graham, a British Intelligence Officer working in Sierra Leone, drew from his experience while writing the novel. Although, the location was not mentioned in … Read more

Re-examine the notions of indirectness and politeness as applied to requests

Abstract The aim of this paper is to re-examine the notions of indirectness and politeness as applied to requests. The relationship between the two notions was examined in a series of experiments designed to tap native speakers’ perceptions of politeness and indirectness in English. The results indicate that the two notions are perceived as different … Read more