Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted EFL teachers’ attitudes on the use of Literary Dialogues in Developing Spoken Language Awareness in Saudi Arabia(University of Liverpool, 2024-09-02) Alamrani, Sarah; Jones, ChristianThe role of literature in English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms in Saudi Arabia has not been extensively examined. Thus, this study aims to gauge the attitudes of English as a Foreign language (EFL) teachers in Saudi universities on the role of literature to raise learners’ awareness on spoken English features. The study employed an open-ended questionnaire to measure the effectiveness of a set of pre-used materials designed using a literary text. A total of 18 EFL teachers took part in evaluating the materials. A thematic analysis was applied to examine the qualitative data. The finding revealed that overall, the attitude of EFL teachers in Saudi universities towards utilizing literature in ELT materials was mostly positive. Additionally, the participants expressed several issues they could foresee if they applied this method regardless of their positive attitude. Finally, the attributes of EFL teachers (e.g. gender, teaching experience) did not seem to necessarily affect their attitudes.3 0Item Restricted Long Annotated Translation of the First Chapter of "Unlawful Killings", Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey By Wendy Joseph(Saudi Digital Library, 2023) Alburaidi, Ibrahim Saleh; Mizori, HassanThis project introduces the translation of the first chapter of "Unlawful Killings," a true crime narrative by Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC, offering insights into the UK legal system. The translation aims to fill a gap in Arabic literature, providing Arabic readers access to a best-selling work not previously translated. The rationale is grounded in the book's thematic relevance, the translator's personal connection to the Old Bailey Court, and the absence of an Arabic version. The translation strategy employs direct translation, borrowing, calque, and literal translation, supplemented by oblique translation techniques. The target readership includes Arabic literature enthusiasts, and the potential publisher is "Athra," known for its commitment to quality translation. In addition to the translation, there is an annotation that provides further context, explanations of translation choices, and cultural insights. This comprehensive approach seeks to enrich Arabic literature, presenting a unique perspective on true crime and legal proceedings while maintaining linguistic accuracy and cultural resonance.22 0Item Restricted Examining the Retranslation Hypothesis in the Arabic Translations of Lady Chatterley’s(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-05-08) Albudairi, Yousef; Jaccomard, HélèneThe retranslation hypothesis developed by Antoine Berman and Paul Bensimon, which entails initial translations being domesticated and retranslations being foreignised, has been studied multiple times. However, in the case of English-Arabic translations, the hypothesis has not yet been fully examined. The aim of this thesis is to question the validity of the retranslation hypothesis when applied to the two Arabic translations of Lady Chatterley's Lover. To test the validity of the retranslation hypothesis, the two Arabic translations underwent two types of analysis. The quantitative analysis presents general information about all corpora, the Source Text (ST), translation 1 (T1) and translation 2 (T2). Such information helps in knowing the word count, lexical density and word frequencies, among other features that assist in forming a general view about the macro translation strategies applied in the Arabic translations. The qualitative analysis focuses on the three most challenging characteristics found in the ST: metaphor, explicit language and language variety. The analysis of these characteristics considers the use of the micro translation strategies utilised in each translation to overcome such challenges. In addition, the qualitative analysis sheds light on one aspect of the Arabic translations: the use of footnotes. All of this information, ranging from quantitative to qualitative, lead to a conclusion about the validity of the retranslation hypothesis. The results of both analyses proved that the two Arabic translations do not fully conform to the retranslation hypothesis.61 0Item Restricted EMPLOYING CRITICAL LITERACY TO EXPLORE CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS’ RESPONSES TO MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE IN A BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION IN SAUDI ARABIA(2023-06-30) Alqahtani, Nadia; Medina, CarmenMulticulturalism is about equality, social justice, and welcoming the differences of a group of people in the same world. It is a reform, challenge, and change of the domination of one culture, race, gender, ethnicity, and class in a society that consists of multiple people of diverse backgrounds. There has been a rapid change in Saudi Arabian society as it welcomes refugees as residents and tourists from around the world and it has lately granted citizenship to foreigners who have improved various aspects of Saudi society. Because of this, it is crucial to encourage citizens to value diversity and individual differences because they are vital to the country’s growth. With the growing diversity among students in Saudi Arabian classrooms, stakeholders and teachers need to start cultivating the ideology of multiculturalism and students need to accept and respect each other despite their different cultural backgrounds. The main goal of this study was to examine how a diverse group of students responded to a literary discussion in a book club while reading multicultural books. Literary texts and book clubs are a means to identify the challenges that students, especially diverse students, face. These experiences provide opportunities for students to analyze, delve into, and negotiate diversity issues as they construct their identities. A case study approach using critical thematic analysis was used to explore the responses of six high school students. Initially, the students expressed unconscious responses and knowledge that lacked critiquing, analyzing, examining the texts, and addressing multicultural issues. However, the students’ identities in this study were revealed when exposed to multicultural literature books. They demonstrated the possibilities of valuing themselves, reflecting with others, and shaping their identities for belonging, confidence, relationships, and familiarity. The book club provided a chance to speak, interrogate, and analyze the authors’ perspectives and thoughts by digging deep to reach issues hidden under the authors’ words. As a result of the study, a model was developed to guide teachers and other stakeholders of the educational system in Saudi Arabia to improve approaches to multicultural literacy.14 0Item Restricted Saudi-Arab Emerging Video Game Cultures, Archetypes, Narratives, and User Experiences(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-05) Alkhamees, Omar Abdulaziz S; Yecies, BrianArab representation in literature and media has been a major focus of many works of renowned scholars, such as Edward Said (1978), Shaheen (2000), Karim (2005) and others. Journalism, film, television, and ancient literature have all been studied in these works. A recent addition to the study of Arab representation is the medium of video games. This was first examined by Reichmuth and Werning (2006) and Machin and Suleiman (2006) and extended by many works that are discussed in this thesis. The vast majority of the literature on Arab representation in video games focuses on Western video games and the reaction of Arab developers to these representations. Lack of specificity is another characteristic of this field. Both characteristics manifest in repeated comparative studies, where scholars select one local culture as an archetype, then embark on a comparative study of the global gaming community. In so doing, there is an unfair generalisation of Arab identity across broad and diverse regions, in terms of ethnic, ideological, national, historical, and even linguistic components. The present investigation critiques the shortcomings of this previous literature, while testing some alternative methods and approaches needed to re-examine the lack of access, language barriers and the aforementioned generalisations that have limited this field until now. Rather than assuming a single archetype for Saudi culture, this thesis departs from previous scholarship by examining the various aspects of the transformation process leading to what could be called an emergent “Saudiness”. Specifically, this study examines the construction and depiction of Saudi-Arab identity through the narratives and audiovisual content of video games, paying close attention to recent developments in Saudi cultural and media policy and the mandates set forth by the Vision 2030 development plan (SCEDA, 2016). Using theories on participatory culture (Jenkins, 2009) and spreadable media (Jenkins, Ford, and Green, 2013) as well as a content analysis of previously understudied material shared by a cohort of Saudi gamers, this research investigates the particular markers and strategies used to distinguish the spectrum of cultural aspects and elements with which Saudi gamers identify. To achieve this, the analysis focuses on three distinct archetypes of Saudi Arabs in video games: (a) the Saudis in Western video games, as suggested by previous works; (b) the Saudi citizen archetype, as recommended by state policy; and (c) the Saudi culture, as represented by Saudi gamers and Saudi game producers -- who in many cases reject the idea of a single archetype. In sum, this research sheds new light on the interactions between centralised and decentralised media in Saudi Arabia, as well as the Saudi gamers' sense of agency, demonstrating how Saudis perceive Saudi representations in video games as part of a complex spectrum of interactions within a larger global gaming community.32 0