Modern Languages & Cultural Studies

JLe titre de cet ouvrage collectif, publié dans le cadre de la collection «Recherches», invite à réfléchir «aux questions de transferts, de différenciation et de ruptures» entre les cultures de la France et du Québec (p. 1). Le riche matériau ethnographique est d'un grand intérêt ...

Can we map university-wide graduate attributes to specific program requirements? Can we develop and manage an integrated assessment process? In this article, we present a seven-month long project where we attempted to map generic university graduate attributes (UGAs) to required engineering program graduate attributes in a large Canadian research institution. The purpose of the project was to explore the intersection of the UGAs with engineering graduate attributes, evaluate the accreditation process, develop a mapping process, and examine management strategies for assessing both sets of graduate attributes, all the while keeping the continual improvement process attractive to students, instructors, and administrators. Using a modified dialectical inquiry, two groups worked on the mapping process: one from engineering, the other from social sciences (Education and Arts), to ensure objectivity of comparison. Both forward and backward mapping took place. Results demonstrated that, alt...

This article looks into both the Arabic self-translation and English translation of Saudi writer Ahmed Abodehman’s first novel La ceinture (The Belt). The dialectic between the group and the individual at the heart of the novel will be our guiding thread. Whereas Abodehman’s decision to write in French stands as a way out of the straightjacket imposed by both classical and dialectal Arabic, self-translating the novel back into Arabic can potentially dissolve the hard-won individuality in the collective order of Arabic. As for the English translation, it gives a new meaning to the dialectic between the individual and the collective.

Ahmed Abodehman est un poete de l’Arabie Saoudite qui decida, dans le but de preserver sa culture orale villageoise, d’ecrire son premier roman en francais. Un an apres la publication de ce roman, il en fait la traduction en arabe. Cette etude examine les strategies qu’Abodehman utilise pour s’adresser aux publics arabe et francais ainsi que leurs effets sur l’auto-traduction de la version arabe du roman. Nous nous pencherons sur l’etude des deux traductions en utilisant comme cadre theorique a la fois la traductologie et la theorie litteraire. Les travaux precurseurs d’Oustinoff et de Fitch dans le domaine de l’auto-traduction ainsi que la typologie classique de Vinay et Darbelnet seront utilises pour caracteriser le projet de traduction d’Abodehman. Du point de vue litteraire, la narratologie de Genette ainsi que les concepts de « surconscience linguistique » et d’ « oraliture » nous aideront a faire une etude en profondeur du roman d’Abodehman. Cette etude nous permettra de mieux...

After 2009, accredited Canadian engineering schools began to develop processes to map the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board-Graduate Attributes(CEAB-GAs) to their curriculum and integrate ways to measure them. At around the same time, several Canadian universities embarked on a process to identifytheir own University-wide Graduate Attribute (UGAs).  UGAs are assumed to be applicable across study disciplines; i.e. the university experience as a whole.To address the need to assess students on the basis of the CEAB GAs and the UGAs in the Faculty of Engineering and develop the basis for an integrated graduate attribute management system, an interdisciplinary team conducted a yearlong qualitative study with the purpose of exploringthe intersection of the UGAs with CEAB-GAs. The key objectives were to develop a mapping process between the two sets and to explore management strategies for assessing both sets of graduate attributes. Two independent teams performed the mapping exerci...

Implicit and explicit knowledge of the second language (L2) are two central constructs in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in obtaining valid and reliable measures of L2 learners" implicit and explicit knowledge (e.g., Bowles, 2011; R. Ellis, 2005). The purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of the knowledge representations developed by two groups of learners of Spanish as a L2 at different levels of proficiency. The results show that the two groups differed with respect to their implicit and explicit knowledge of Spanish and also regarding the relationship between measures of those representations and the measures of L2 achievement used with each group. Résumé Les connaissances implicites et explicites de la langue seconde (L2) sont deux concepts centraux dans le domaine de l'acquisition de la langue seconde (ALS). Les dernières années ont vu un regain d"intérêt pour la recherche de moyens valides et fiables de mesurer les connaissances implicites et explicites des apprenants de L2 (par exemple, Bowles, 2011; R. Ellis, 2005). Le but de la présente étude a été d'examiner la nature des représentations des connaissances développées par deux groupes d'apprenants de l'espagnol comme L2 à différents niveaux de compétence. Les résultats démontrent qu"il existe des différences marquées entre les deux groupes au niveau de leurs connaissances implicites et explicites de l'espagnol, et aussi en ce qui concerne la relation entre les mesures de ces représentations et les mesures de performance en L2 utilisés avec chaque groupe.

Gogol’s persona is still nowadays at the centre of a debate, which aims to place him either within the Russian or Ukrainian borders. His Russian contemporary scholars - such as Belinsky - while building a national literature, placed Gogol’ into their literary canon. Today, instead, scholars such as Bojanowska are trying to deconstruct the Russian imperialist discourse, in order to affirm a new awareness on Gogol’s writings and personal inclination. Although the two main currents exclude one another, they both trace a moment in Gogol’s production when the author seems to detach himself from his Ukrainianness.Nevertheless, the debate on Gogol’s persona does not end in the Russian, Ukrainian, and North American context. Further studies, which are less concerned about the nationalistic discourse or postcolonial theories, provide other interpretations of the matter. For instance, in her preface to the Italian translation of Rome, Giuliani traces a topographic triangle in the Gogolian lit...

Rome and its Ukrainian Soul: Fragments of Ukraine in Gogol's Rim Nevertheless, the debate on Gogol's persona does not end in the Russian, Ukrainian, and North American context. Further studies, perhaps less concerned about nationalistic discourses or postcolonial theories, provide other interpretations of the matter. For instance, in her preface to the Italian translation of Rome, Giuliani traces a topographic triangle in the Gogolian literature. The summits represent three main places and their correspondent literary works: Ukraine (Mirgorod, 1835), Saint Petersburg (Nevsky Prospekt, 1835), and Rome (Rim, 1842). At the same time, these three places outline Gogol's literary growth. Ukraine is seen as his beloved homeland, Saint Petersburg/Russia as the scene where he started his career, and Rome/Italy as the place where his spirit finally found peace (Giuliani, "Introduzione" 10). The adoption of Giulianiʼs "topographic triangle" reveals the limitations of the binary opposition Ukraine/Russia promoted by both imperialist and postcolonial discourses, allowing to undermine them by proving that Gogol' never erased his Ukrainian self-nor he could have. This is particularly evident in the comparison of the late fragment Rome to the collection Vechera na khutore bliz Dikan'ki, 1831-1832 (Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka). Their textual analysis highlights that both contain elements reminiscent of Ukraine, ultimately showing that Gogol' did not neglect his Ukrainian roots; hence, the study of his persona cannot be simplified by nationalistic discourses or postcolonial theories that exclude complex identities. Indeed, in Rome, the author's literary production comes full circle, underlining the connection between the Ukrainian and Italian lands in Gogol's imaginary and providing a missing tile in the analysis of this enigmatic writer. To better understand these Silvia Sgaramella is pursuing a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include Russian literature and language, comparative literature, philology, linguistics, SLA, ESL, writing studies, and writing centre theory and practice.