ERIC Number: ED614077
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Mar-29
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Effect of Social Media on Arabic Language Attrition
Al-Jarf, Reima
Online Submission, Paper presented at the Globalization, Language, Literature, and the Humanities Conference in Honour of Mnguember Vicky Sylvester (Abuja, Nigeria, Mar 29-30, 2019)
This study investigates the effect of Facebook on Arabic language attrition, i.e., decrease in language proficiency, as exhibited in the use of Colloquial instead of Standard Arabic, use of foreign words although Arabic equivalents exist, and committing spelling errors. A sample of Facebook posts and a corpus of spelling errors on Facebook were randomly selected and analyzed. Samples of college students and instructors were surveyed to find out the reasons for this new socio-linguistic phenomenon. It was found that most educated adult Facebook users use slang and Colloquial language. Some Arabic posts are fully Romanized rather than written in Arabic script. English words are transliterated and inserted in Arabic posts. Many adult Facebook users completely ignore Standard Arabic spelling rules. They spell words the way they pronounce them in their own dialects. Students do not seem to recognize word boundaries, cannot connect phonemes with the graphemes they represent and cannot distinguish vowel length. Students reported that it is easier for them to express themselves in slang and Colloquial Arabic. They feel they are conversing with others, not writing. Therefore, they write the way they speak and do not think about spelling and grammar. Results and recommendations are given in detail.
Descriptors: Language Skill Attrition, Language Proficiency, Language Usage, Code Switching (Language), Sociolinguistics, Spelling, Grammar, Error Patterns, Semitic Languages, Native Speakers, Adults, College Students, Preferences, Romanization, Arabs, Social Media, English (Second Language), Foreign Countries
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Egypt; Syria; Yemen; Saudi Arabia; Jordan; Palestine; Tunisia; Algeria; United Arab Emirates
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A