Compound Stress in the English of Native Speakers of Jordanian Arabic: A Constraint-Based Analysis
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- Category: English Language and Literature
- Published: Monday, 07 May 2012 03:00
- Written by Raad Abdelsalam Btoush
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Compound Stress in the English of Native Speakers of Jordanian Arabic: A Constraint-Based Analysis
Raad Abdelsalam Btoush
Mu'tah University, 2010
This thesis presents an analysis within the Optimality Theory framework of the transfer of compound stress from Arabic to English in the English performance of forty native speakers of Jordanian Arabic majoring in English at Mu'tah University. Contrary to the traditional belief which claims that compound stress is transferred from Arabic into English in its entirety, this study demonstrates that Arabic compound stress system characterized by double stress is not entirely reflected in the Interlanguage of the participants of this study. This interlanguage system found in the English production of native speakers of Jordanian Arabic is the outcome of an Interlanguage hierarchy of constraints some of which are identical to those of the native language, some are modified versions of the native language constraints, and others are independent of the native language. Due to impoverished input the participants of this study have received, a great deal of the mother tongue's influence is observed in their stress assignment of English compounds. In addition, some constraints in their interlanguage have not yet been settled.
This thesis contains five chapters. The first comprises a general background. The second chapter provides a review of related literature. The third chapter explains the design and methodology of the study. The fourth chapter analyzes and discusses the study findings. The last chapter provides a summary, conclusions and some suggested recommendations.