Course Description

 The course aims at examining the relationship between language and culture. It focuses on language in a historical perspective as well as emphasizing aspects of foreign language, culture and civilization. Illustration of various cultural and social patterns of behavior will be provided such as marriage, residency, customs, beliefs, gender roles, health care...etc with special emphasis on comparative Arab, European and other cultures.

The course will also focus on the problems caused by cultural differences at word

level, and strategies for dealing with them in translation.

The course is divided into three chapters: 

Chapter One: Culture and Language Variations

·         Section One: the complex features of culture.

·         Section Two: how people learn their culture.

·         Section Three: Definition of Culture.

·         Section Four: communication and culture.

·         Section Five: the relationship between language and culture:

a.       Language varieties (standard, dialects, social dialects, idiolect, registers, pidgin and Creole).

b.      Nonverbal Communication (functions, and nonverbal communication and culture)

c.       Categories of Nonverbal Communication (body behavior, paralanguage and space and distance).

Chapter Two: Cultural Patterns 

·         Section One: language and thoughts (the Sapir/Whorf hypothesis)

·         Section Two: features of the foreign culture compared to the Arabic culture:

a.      Residence.

b.      Marriage customs and forms of families.

c.       Customs.

d.      Gender roles.

e.      Religion and its functions.

f.        Health beliefs.

g.      Values.

h.      Political system.

i.        Legal system.

j.        The functions of games.           

·     Section Three: students assignments: each student selects a research project where she will pursue

 in greater depth a topic of her interest. She will present it to the class. 

 Chapter Three: Problems of Translation

a.      Problems of non-equivalence at word level.

b.      Culture specific.

c.       Lack of super ordinate or hyponym.

d.      Non lexicalized concepts.

e.      Differences in forms.

f.        The use of loan words.

g.      Strategies for dealing with various types of non-equivalence:

h.      Translation using more general words.

i.        Translation using a cultural substitute.

j.        Translation using a loan word or a loan word with explanation.

k.       Translation by paraphrasing.

l.        Translation using omission.

m.    Translation by illustration.

n.      Translation of idioms and fixed expressions.

Evaluation:

·         Two in term tests ( 20 & 25 marks)

·         Students presentation ( 5 marks)

·         Final exam ( 50 marks)

Exams Schedule:

·         Test One: 25 /11/1429 - 23/11/2008

·         Test Two: 16/1/1430  - 13/1/2009

Weekly timetable for all groups:

·         Saturday: 9-10   group 1

·         Sunday: 9-10   group 2

·         Tuesday: 8-9  group 2

·         10-11  group 1

·         Wednesday: 8-9   group 2

·         12-1   group 1