Browsing by Author "Abu-Ayyash, Emad A. S."

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    The Creative Use of Cohesive Devices: Exploring New Roles
    (The British University in Dubai (BUiD), 2020-04) Abu-Ayyash, Emad A. S.
    The role of cohesive devices in different types of discourses has been broadly acknowledged to be maintaining texture, or holding the different parts of the text together. This role was emphasised in a plethora of studies in discourse analysis, and cohesive devices have been considered to be the glue-like linguistic tools through which textuality is achieved and without which a certain piece of discourse would look like fragmented, disconnected sentences. Important as it is, the ‘gluing’ role of cohesive devices has been the primary and dominant focus of research and whether these devices can play other roles in texts has been under-investigated, if not ignored. The current paper addresses this gap in research by exploring other possible roles of cohesive devices. Three newspaper, opinion articles for one of the renowned writers, Thomas L. Friedman, were selected and analysed in terms of the various roles played by cohesive devices in them. Through mixed-methods analysis, it was found that cohesive devices played several roles other than holding the various parts of the text together.
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    Jordanian Expatriates’ Family Language Policy in Dubai
    (SpringerLink, 2024) Razem, Reem J.; Abu-Ayyash, Emad A. S.
    This pilot study explores the Family Language Policy (FLP) of two Jordanian expatriate families in Dubai and is underpinned by Spolsky’s FLP theoretical framework which has tripartite components of ideology, practice, and management. A qualitative constructivist approach and case study are adopted as the main methodology. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with the parents and observation of the natural utterances of children. The purpose of the study is to refine the data collection instruments regarding both the procedures and the content of the gathered data to glean initial themes. Key findings identified contextual and cultural challenges while piloting the instruments which resulted in necessary methodological modifications to the data collection procedures. Implications include highlighting the benefits of pilot studies, modifying interview questions and observation procedures in response to challenges that face emerging researchers when conducting similar studies, and sharing the value of developing reflexive, culturally competent, and ethically responsive research practices in the field of Arabic sociolinguistics.
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    The Role of Lexical Cohesion in Improving Twelfth Graders’ Essay Writing Quality
    (Springer Link, 2023) Khalil, Abdelhamid A.; Abu-Ayyash, Emad A. S.; Salhieh, Sa’Ed M. I.
    The current study was conducted to examine the role of lexical cohesion in improving the quality of twelfth graders’ essay writing. The study specifically aimed at examining the correlation between lexical cohesive devices (LCD) and the quality of written texts as well as investigating the barriers of employing these devices for twelfth graders. The context was a private American curriculum school in the UAE. The present paper adopted the quantitative correlational and the quantitative survey research approaches. Data were collected using document analysis of 30 twelfth graders’ essays and an online survey attempted by 113 English teachers. Data were analysed using correlational statistics, multiple linear regression, and exploratory factor analysis. The results indicated that there was a significantly positive, moderate association between cohesive ties and students’ essay scores. The results also demonstrated that there was a significantly linear relation between hyponyms and synonyms and students’ writing scores although hyponyms had more effect on the writing score than synonyms. The findings of exploratory factor analysis identified three factors as major barriers encountered by learners while using lexical cohesion in their written texts including (1) lack of resources and instructions, (2) impact of L1 interference and (3) limited lexical awareness.