Using colloquial language in prose fiction texts: An exploratory study
Main Article Content
Abstract
Prose fiction texts have an aesthetic function, which seeks to create a sense of aesthetic appreciation through means of language style amongst other devices. Bearing this in mind, it is the author’s belief that using colloquial language in a prose fiction text may negatively impact language style of the text and acquisition of the foreign language. Motivated by this conviction, this study addresses two main questions. First, how does use of colloquial language impact language style of a prose fiction text? Second, how does use of colloquial language impact language acquisition in relation to foreign and second English learners? For data gathering purposes, the author of this paper created and distributed a questionnaire comprising ten items. Including three groups: English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students; EFL university instructors; and adult readers, the questionnaire was addressed to a total of one hundred and sixty-six subjects in Dubai. Moreover, the researcher conducted a semi-structured interview involving six subjects. According to the statistical results, most of the respondents and interviewees believed that including colloquial language in prose fiction texts would negatively impact language style of the text and acquisition of the foreign language.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Suhair Eyad Jamal Al-Alami, Department of General Education, Skyline University College, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
I hold a PhD in English Applied Linguistics from Aston University, United Kingdom. I currently work in the Department of General Education at Skyline University College, Sharjah. I have contributed a wide range of research papers to various international journals, served as a co-editor of nine publications, reviewed many articles for refereed journals, and presented research papers at numerous conferences. Additionally, I have received awards in recognition of my teaching, research, professional development, and community service activities. My research interests cover fiction, stylistics, translation of literary texts, language acquisition, and teaching methodologies.
How to Cite
References
Al-Alami, S. (2023). Translation of Prose Fiction Texts: An Exploratory Study. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 12(2), 147-158.
Akmajian, A.; Farmer, A.K.; Bickmore, L.; Demers, R.A.; & Harnish, R.M. (2001). Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Alred, G.J.; Brusaw, C.T.; and Oliu, W.E. (2011). Handbook of Technical Writing. Bedford: St. Martin’s Press.
Boase-Beier, J. (2006). Stylistic Approaches to Translation. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
Boase-Beier, J. (2014). Stylistic Approaches to Translation. London: Routledge.
Burchfield, R.W. (2004). Fowler’s Modern English Usage Revisited (3rd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cambridge Dictionary. (2005). Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Collins, P., and Yao, X. (2013). Colloquial Features in World Englishes. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 18(4), 237-258.
Du, L. (2020). Appreciation and Reading Aesthetic Analysis of English and American Language and Literature Works from the Perspective of Linguistics. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Financial Management, Education and Social Science. Suzhou, China: CSP, 372-376.
Epoge, N.K. (2012). Slang and Colloquialism in Cameroon English Verbal Discourse. International Journal of Linguistics, 4(1), 130-145.
Grant, M. (2020). The Difference between Fiction and Nonfiction. United States of America: Book Riot.
Hartley, D. (2016). The Politics of Style. United States: BRILL.
Hasanah, D. (2020). The Use of Colloquial Words in Improving Students’ Speaking Through Teacher’s Daily Assessment. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (Vol. 430). Hong Kong: Atlantic Press, 29-33.
Karimi, L. (2021). Effect of Using Colloquial versus Standard English to Teach EFL Listening Comprehension. International Journal of Listening, 35(2), 100-109.
Kidder, T. and Todd, R. (2013). Good Prose. London: Random House Publishing Group.
Merriam, S. B., and Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Merriam Webster Dictionary. (2006). Webster’s New Explorer Encyclopedia Dictionary. United States of America: Federal Street Press.
Newmark, P. (1981). Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon.
Oxford Dictionary. (2010). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pan, F. (2012). Corpus-Based Language Research and Pedagogical Applications. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.
Partridge, E. (1937). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Peters, P. (2007). The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage (2nd edition). Port Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press.
Prose, F. (2006). Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them. United States of America: HarperCollins Publishers.
Short, M.H. (1996). Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays, and Prose. London and New York: Macmillan.
Stockett, K. (2009). The Help. United Kingdom: Fig Tree.
Strunk, William JR. and White, E.B. (1959). The Elements of Style. United States: Macmillan.
Trudgill, P. (2004). Dialects (2nd edition). London: Routledge.
Wang, N. (2016). Investigating Grammatical Colloquial Features in EFL Learners’ Theses by Chinese English Learners. International Journal of English Linguistics, 6(6), 138-146.
Wharton, E. (1920). The Age of Innocence. United States of America: D. Appleton & Company.
Wood, J. (2018). How Fiction Works. United States: Macmillan.