21.2505, Diss: Disc Analysis: Abdelhaleem: 'A Stylistic Analysis of ...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-21-2505. Mon Jun 07 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.2505, Diss: Disc Analysis: Abdelhaleem: 'A Stylistic Analysis of ...'

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1)
Date: 07-Jun-2010
From: Mahmoud Abdelhaleem < mahmoud.abdulhalim at gmail.com >
Subject: A Stylistic Analysis of Conversation Opening and Closing: A contrastive study
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:09:54
From: Mahmoud Abdelhaleem [mahmoud.abdulhalim at gmail.com]
Subject: A Stylistic Analysis of Conversation Opening and Closing: A contrastive study

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Institution: Ain Shams University 
Program: Department of English 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2004 

Author: Mahmoud Mohammad Abdelhaleem

Dissertation Title: A Stylistic Analysis of Conversation Opening and Closing: A 
contrastive study 

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis

Subject Language(s): Arabic, Standard (arb)


Dissertation Director(s):
Ali Ezzat
Hassan Attiah Taman

Dissertation Abstract:

This is a contrastive study that investigates the opening and closing
phases in face-to-face English conversation on one hand and analyzes the
same in two Egyptian Arabic varieties, namely the Cairene and the Upper
Egyptian on the other hand. The specific Upper Egyptian speech community
under examination in this work is that of Dishna, Qena governorate, 600 km
south of Cairo. 

This study, contrastive as it is, tries to shed light on this vital, though
quite stereotypical, aspect of human interaction in both languages. Without
thorough examination of such aspects based on reciprocal appreciation of
cultural discrepancies, better communication among members of different
cultures, such as English and Arabic, or even within the same culture,
Cairene and Upper Egyptian in this case, shall not be a possibility.
Pragmatic failure between members of these two different cultural
identities within the same language, as well as between Arabic and English
in general, stemming from culturally determined differences, produces hard
feelings. 

The instruments used in this study are actual cassette recordings of
naturally occurring exchanges and natural observation of mundane
conversations with special emphasis on opening and closing as their main
archetypal elements. 

Transcriptions are embedded  line by line in each conversation while full
translation comes later in the appendix. Two different keys to
transcription, one for the Cairene variety and another for the Upper
Egyptian one are used.

Based on Grice's Cooperative Principle, the level of analysis applied in
this study is pragmatic: how openings and closings are used within social
context in face-to-face English and Egyptian Arabic conversations
represented in the Cairene and Upper Egyptian varieties. Linguistic tokens
used in opening and closing phases are always manipulated by interactants
to perform different functions. The pragmatic implicature that lies behind
introducing items of either category in the other's well known location is
duly outlined. Recurrent patterns and systematic properties of opening and
closing across records of naturally occurring exchanges, shall be analyzed
in a bid to detect the frequent tactics and gambits adopted by interlocutors.

Sociolinguistic and contextual details shall not be forsaken so long as
they enrich this research work and broaden the spectrum of understanding.
It is true that the main emphasis of this study lies on talk in interaction
as advocated by the pioneers of Conversation Analysis. However, it shall
outline the cultural discrepancies or ethnographic nuances when it comes to
produce these phases of interaction.  

The study is in six chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction that  provides
an extensive review of Conversation Analysis. As the literature available
on English conversation is the point of departure of this study, Chapter II
deals first with English openings' aspects. Chapter III presents an
introduction to Arabic language before dealing with openings in Egyptian
Arabic either in Cairo or in Upper Egypt. Chapter IV deals with closings in
English conversation. Chapter V deals with closings in the two Egyptian
Arabic varieties. Chapter VI is a conclusion that sums up the points common
or different in both languages. The appendices have the full texts of
Cairene conversations with English translation. 




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