Arabic-L:GEN:Meaning of Near Native Proficiency for MSA

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Wed 03 Oct 2012
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:Meaning of Near Native Proficiency for MSA
2) Subject:Meaning of Near Native Proficiency for MSA

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1)
Date: 03 Oct 2012
From:Paul Roochnik <proochnik at gmail.com>
Subject:Meaning of Near Native Proficiency for MSA

In response to David Wilmsen's question, "What does Near Native Proficiency
Mean for MSA?" --
I am not here to defend the use or misuse of this expression,  but one of
the hallmarks of a highly educated native speaker of Arabic at ILR level 4+
or 5 would be his/her ability to shift effortlessly from one register of
the language to another -- anywhere in the spectrum from most colloquial to
most formal -- depending on the shifting socio-linguistic context.
Cheers,
Abu Sammy

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2)
Date: 03 Oct 2012
From:kassem wahba <kassem_wahba at yahoo.com>
Subject:Meaning of Near Native Proficiency for MSA


Dear David,

The issue you raised is an important one in both applied and
theoretical linguistics. The term near-native speaker or native
speaker is mentioned a lot but nobody knows what this term means.

Aside then the few people, like Dil Parkinson, who attempt to explore
what native Egyptians know of MSA, nobody,as far as I know, attempts
to examine this issue empirically.

ACTFL and the Common European Framework mention it in terms of the
foreign language learner's performance and our colleagues who revised
the ACTFL guidelines (for Arabic) recently posted functions to be done
by the near-native speaker in MSA without taking the time to examine
what does the native or near-speaker do in MSA in terms of language
use. It is obvious empirical research based on quantitative data
collection and analysis is hard work and time consuming.


The same question was raised in English by our colleague: JUDITH E.
LISKIN–GASPARRO who wrote the following article on this issue.
1999*** What is a near-native speaker? Perspectives of job seekers and
search committees in Spanish (with Dale A. Koike). ADFL Bulletin, 30,
3, 54–62.

Greetings
Kassem Wahba


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End of Arabic-L: 03 Oct 2012