Papers by Abdelhakim Boubekri
Lingua Posnaniensis, Dec 28, 2023
This study endeavors to undertake a comparative analysis of aspect in English and Moroccan Arabic... more This study endeavors to undertake a comparative analysis of aspect in English and Moroccan Arabic, hereafter referred to as MA, adopting a cognitive linguistic approach, with special attention to the categorization of different situation types as proposed by Radden and Dirven (2007). It also aims to highlight the aspect areas that may challenge Moroccan EFL learners when acquiring this English grammatical construction. The study reveals that aspect is treated differently in English and MA. English aspect hinges on the viewing frame adopted. Therefore, the shift from one viewing frame to another results in the change from one situation type to another. By contrast, in MA, the perfective use calls for the adoption of a maximal viewing frame. However, the imperfective use calls for two interpretations: the event can be seen with either a maximal or a restricted viewing frame. In the absence of elements that co-determine the aspect in MA, general context is the only indication of the appropriate interpretation. The differences in the aspectual systems of English and MA may lead to difficulties in language acquisition. MA learners attempting to learn English, and vice versa, may face challenges in learning both the grammatical structure and its associated meanings.
A contrastive analysis of aspect in English and Moroccan Arabic, 2023
This study endeavors to undertake a comparative analysis of aspect in English and Moroccan Arabic... more This study endeavors to undertake a comparative analysis of aspect in English and Moroccan Arabic, hereafter referred to as MA, adopting a cognitive linguistic approach, with special attention to the categorization of different situation types as proposed by Radden and Dirven (2007). It also aims to highlight the aspect areas that may challenge Moroccan EFL learners when acquiring this English grammatical construction. The study reveals that aspect is treated differently in English and MA. English aspect hinges on the viewing frame adopted. Therefore, the shift from one viewing frame to another results in the change from one situation type to another. By contrast, in MA, the perfective use calls for the adoption of a maximal viewing frame. However, the imperfective use calls for two interpretations: the event can be seen with either a maximal or a restricted viewing frame. In the absence of elements that co-determine the aspect in MA, general context is the only indication of the appropriate interpretation. The differences in the aspectual systems of English and MA may lead to difficulties in language acquisition. MA learners attempting to learn English, and vice versa, may face challenges in learning both the grammatical structure and its associated meanings.
Conditionals in Moroccan Arabic, 2019
This study describes conditional constructions in Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) using a cogniti... more This study describes conditional constructions in Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) using a cognitive approach. Adopting the tripartite classification of conditionals namely factual, hypothetical, and counterfactual by Comrie (1986), this study examines conditional constructions that are introduced by the particles ila )إال( and kun .)كون( The analysis shows that there are two basic types of conditional constructions in MA depending on whether the 'if-clause' represents a possible condition (real conditional) as in: ila ilǝᶜbu mǝzyan, irǝbḥu 'If they play well, they will win'; or a contrary-tofact/impossible condition (unreal conditional) as in kun ğa, nǝmšiw kamlin 'If he came, we would go'. In real conditional constructions,
A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when learning English conditionals by Moroccan EFL learners, 2019
Learning to handle hypothetical situations in a new language is always difficult (Catford, et al.... more Learning to handle hypothetical situations in a new language is always difficult (Catford, et al., 1974). This rule holds true for Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) speakers learning English because grammatical devices in the two languages differ in almost all equivalent situations. For instance, while English verb forms are used to indicate tense in conditional sentences, MA uses them to indicate aspect. Adopting the typology of conditional constructions suggested by Dancygier (1999) and Dancygier & Sweetser (2005), this study provides a contrastive analysis of conditionals in English and MA to predict the possible errors EFL/ESL learners are likely to make while learning English. The analysis shows that the main discrepancy between English conditionals and MA conditionals lies in the verb form used by the two systems. Accordingly, if EFL/ESL learners are influenced by verb form in their L1, they are likely to face some challenges while learning English conditionals. That is, they are likely to use the past tense in the protases of English predictive conditionals and generic conditionals since the perfective form of the verb is used in the protases of these two types in MA. Concerning the protases of English non-predictive conditionals, Moroccan EFL/ESL learners are likely to use either the past tense or the present tense since both the perfective and the imperfective forms of the verb are possible in the protases of MA non-predictive conditionals. However, due to the fact that the perfective form is the prototypical form in the protases of conditionals in MA, EFL/ESL learners are likely to use the past tense more often than the present tense. The analysis also shows that EFL/ESL learners tend to use the present tense in the apodoses of English conditionals since the prevalent form in the apodoses of MA conditionals is the imperfective.
Keywords: conditional, constructions, contrastive analysis, EFL/ESL learners, generic conditionals, non-predictive conditionals, predictive conditionals.
Macrolinguistics, Dec 31, 2019
A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when le... more A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when learning English conditionals by Moroccan EFL learners Macrolinguistics (2019) 111 apodoses of English conditionals since the prevalent form in the apodoses of MA conditionals is the imperfective.
The relation between vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing is a complex one. Each time a w... more The relation between vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing is a complex one. Each time a word is used in a different context, the word acquires a new nuance of meaning which the reader must infer on the basis of linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge. In this study, we investigated the behavior of Moroccan EFL learners when they are faced with a situation in which the dictionary meaning of a word clashes with its contextual use. More specifically, a task of 40 (plus another 20 distracters) multiple choice questions was designed in such a way that the test item does not fit the context in which it occurs, as in the following example: “The boss finished the worker”. Five options were provided for each question: three were synonymous with the test item, the fourth option was a fake word and the fifth was “none of these” (a. ended b. hiphed c. stopped d. completed e. none of these). The reasoning behind this task is to test whether subjects will prefer one of the synonyms, which they may have already learnt but which are not appropriate to context, or the nonce word by way of guessing, or else abstain from all attempts to interpret the sentence by choosing “none of these”. The answers were classified according to these three categories and a chi-square test was run. The results (² = 15.93, df = 2, p < .001) indicate that subjects preferred synonyms over the other two categories. On a first reading, this might be interpreted as a tendency to stick to memorized senses, rather than venturing on an unsafe guess, irrespective of whether or not those senses are appropriate. On a closer scrutiny, however, it is very probable that the sentences were interpreted metaphorically on the basis of the conventional meaning of the test items. In the example provided above, the informants may choose c (i.e. stopped) instead of the other options because it makes sense in context. On this interpretation, this study will have shown that EFL learners prefer interpretations based on already acquired word meanings over cancelling those meanings when they are not readily appropriate.
A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when learning English conditionals by Moroccan EFL, 2019
A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when le... more A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when learning English conditionals by Moroccan EFL learners Macrolinguistics (2019) 111 apodoses of English conditionals since the prevalent form in the apodoses of MA conditionals is the imperfective.
Journal of Universal Language
Johnson-Laird & Oatley's analysis of emotion terms in English reveals that these terms are organi... more Johnson-Laird & Oatley's analysis of emotion terms in English reveals that these terms are organised in a semantic field encompassing categories that denote generic emotions, basic (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 86 The Universality and Cultural Specificity of Emotions through ~ emotions, emotional relations, caused emotions, causatives, emotional goals, and complex emotions. All the emotions are based on five modes: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. This approach, termed 'a theory of communication', served a communicative function both within the brain and within social groups. However, whether this theory is applicable to all languages remains unspecified, that is, whether emotions of all languages are organized across these five modes, thereby rendering these modes universal, is not yet clear. Therefore, the present study attempts to assess the universality of this theory by investigating the emotion lexicon of Moroccan Arabic (MA) through a corpus including examples given by 29 native speakers of this language. A semantic analysis of the emotion terms shows that they are organized in the same categories found in the English language. Nevertheless, the highest category in MA consists of causative emotions, indicating that, unlike English, emotions in MA arise as relational phenomena, embedded in social situations.
Journal of Universal Language
Journal of Universal Language
Johnson-Laird & Oatley's analysis of emotion terms in English reveals that these terms are organi... more Johnson-Laird & Oatley's analysis of emotion terms in English reveals that these terms are organised in a semantic field encompassing categories that denote generic emotions, basic (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 86 The Universality and Cultural Specificity of Emotions through ~ emotions, emotional relations, caused emotions, causatives, emotional goals, and complex emotions. All the emotions are based on five modes: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. This approach, termed 'a theory of communication', served a communicative function both within the brain and within social groups. However, whether this theory is applicable to all languages remains unspecified, that is, whether emotions of all languages are organized across these five modes, thereby rendering these modes universal, is not yet clear. Therefore, the present study attempts to assess the universality of this theory by investigating the emotion lexicon of Moroccan Arabic (MA) through a corpus including examples given by 29 native speakers of this language. A semantic analysis of the emotion terms shows that they are organized in the same categories found in the English language. Nevertheless, the highest category in MA consists of causative emotions, indicating that, unlike English, emotions in MA arise as relational phenomena, embedded in social situations.
Abdelhakim Boubekri, 2019
：Learning to handle hypothetical situations in a new language is always difficult (Catford, et al... more ：Learning to handle hypothetical situations in a new language is always difficult (Catford, et al., 1974). This rule holds true for Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) speakers learning English because grammatical devices in the two languages differ in almost all equivalent situations. For instance, while English verb forms are used to indicate tense in conditional sentences, MA uses them to indicate aspect. Adopting the typology of conditional constructions suggested by Dancygier (1999) and Dancygier & Sweetser (2005), this study provides a contrastive analysis of conditionals in English and MA to predict the possible errors EFL/ESL learners are likely to make while learning English. The analysis shows that the main discrepancy between English conditionals and MA conditionals lies in the verb form used by the two systems. Accordingly, if EFL/ESL learners are influenced by verb form in their L1, they are likely to face some challenges while learning English conditionals. That is, they are likely to use the past tense in the protases of English predictive conditionals and generic conditionals since the perfective form of the verb is used in the protases of these two types in MA. Concerning the protases of English non-predictive conditionals, Moroccan EFL/ESL learners are likely to use either the past tense or the present tense since both the perfective and the imperfective forms of the verb are possible in the protases of MA non-predictive conditionals. However, due to the fact that the perfective form is the prototypical form in the protases of conditionals in MA, EFL/ESL learners are likely to use the past tense more often than the present tense. The analysis also shows that EFL/ESL learners tend to use the present tense in the * Boubekri Abdelhakim: PhD candidate in Second Language Acquisition,
Abdelhakim Boubekri, 2018
The relation between vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing is a complex one. Each time a w... more The relation between vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing is a complex one. Each time a word is used in a different context, the word acquires a new nuance of meaning which the reader must infer on the basis of linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge. In this study, we investigated the behavior of Moroccan EFL learners when they are faced with a situation in which the dictionary meaning of a word clashes with its contextual use. More specifically, a task of 40 (plus another 20 distracters) multiple choice questions was designed in such a way that the test item does not fit the context in which it occurs, as in the following example: “The boss finished the worker”. Five options were provided for each question: three were synonymous with the test item, the fourth option was a fake word and the fifth was “none of these” (a. ended b. hiphed c. stopped d. completed e. none of these). The reasoning behind this task is to test whether subjects will prefer one of the synonyms, which they may have already learnt but which are not appropriate to context, or the nonce word by way of guessing, or else abstain from all attempts to interpret the sentence by choosing “none of these”. The answers were classified according to these three categories and a chi-square test was run. The results (² = 15.93, df = 2, p < .001) indicate that subjects preferred synonyms over the other two categories. On a first reading, this might be interpreted as a tendency to stick to memorized senses, rather than venturing on an unsafe guess, irrespective of whether or not those senses are appropriate. On a closer scrutiny, however, it is very probable that the sentences were interpreted metaphorically on the basis of the conventional meaning of the test items. In the example provided above, the informants may choose c (i.e. stopped) instead of the other options because it makes sense in context. On this interpretation, this study will have shown that EFL learners prefer interpretations based on already acquired word meanings over cancelling those meanings when they are not readily appropriate.
Abdelhakim Boubekri, 2019
This study describes conditional constructions in Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) using a cogniti... more This study describes conditional constructions in Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) using a cognitive approach. Adopting the tripartite classification of conditionals namely factual, hypothetical, and counterfactual by Comrie (1986), this study examines conditional constructions that are introduced by the particles ila )إال( and kun .)كون( The analysis shows that there are two basic types of conditional constructions in MA depending on whether the 'if-clause' represents a possible condition (real conditional) as in: ila ilǝᶜbu mǝzyan, irǝbḥu 'If they play well, they will win'; or a contrary-to-fact/impossible condition (unreal conditional) as in kun ğa, nǝmšiw kamlin 'If he came, we would go'. In real conditional constructions, Abdelhakim Boubekri Ph.D. candidate in Second Language Acquisition Studies,
Drafts by Abdelhakim Boubekri
Vocabulary Knowledge and Lexical Inferencing, 2018
The relation between vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing is a complex one. Each time a w... more The relation between vocabulary knowledge and lexical inferencing is a complex one. Each time a word is used in a different context, the word acquires a new nuance of meaning which the reader must infer on the basis of linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge. In this study, we investigated the behavior of Moroccan EFL learners when they are faced with a situation in which the dictionary meaning of a word clashes with its contextual use. More specifically, a task of 40 (plus another 20 distracters) multiple choice questions was designed in such a way that the test item does not fit the context in which it occurs, as in the following example: "The boss finished the worker". Five options were provided for each question: three were synonymous with the test item, the fourth option was a fake word and the fifth was "none of these" (a. ended b. hiphed c. stopped d. completed e. none of these). The reasoning behind this task is to test whether subjects will prefer one of the synonyms, which they may have already learnt but which are not appropriate to context, or the nonce word by way of guessing, or else abstain from all attempts to interpret the sentence by choosing "none of these". The answers were classified according to these three categories and a chi-square test was run. The results (² = 15.93, df = 2, p < .001) indicate that subjects preferred synonyms over the other two categories. On a first reading, this might be interpreted as a tendency to stick to memorized senses, rather than venturing on an unsafe guess, irrespective of whether or not those senses are appropriate. On a closer scrutiny, however, it is very probable that the sentences were interpreted metaphorically on the basis of the conventional meaning of the test items. In the example provided above, the informants may choose c (i.e. stopped) instead of the other options because it makes sense in context. On this interpretation, this study will have shown that EFL learners prefer interpretations based on already acquired word meanings over cancelling those meanings when they are not readily appropriate.
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Papers by Abdelhakim Boubekri
Keywords: conditional, constructions, contrastive analysis, EFL/ESL learners, generic conditionals, non-predictive conditionals, predictive conditionals.
Drafts by Abdelhakim Boubekri
Keywords: conditional, constructions, contrastive analysis, EFL/ESL learners, generic conditionals, non-predictive conditionals, predictive conditionals.