Awareness
2 articles filed under this keyword.
Rhoticity as a Distinguishing Factor Between British and American Accents
Baraat Ismael FaqeAbdulla, Sanarya Maghdid Khudhur, Avan Muhammad Ibrahim
American and British English are widely used by English language learners to improve their language proficiency and for communication across borders. Rhoticity, or the post-vocalic pronunciation of the /r/ sound, is a key characteristic that helps differentiate between the two accents, Received Pronunciation and General American accents. The purpose of the study is to determine the rhotic and non-rhotic accent preferences, awareness, and usage among English Department students at Salahaddin University's College of Education during the 2023-2024 academic year. The study utilizes a mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative) to obtain the data, including voice recordings, questionnaires, and interviews. The results demonstrate that students primarily speak with a rhotic General American accent. They are conscious of the differences between rhotic and non-rhotic American and British accents and favor rhoticity since it is a characteristic of the American accent. The results are helpful for linguists and educators in teaching students about rhoticity, which distinguishes the two accents. Gaining an understanding of this phonological feature enhances communication clarity and comprehension. To help students adapt their spoken language to various contexts, English language teachers need to be aware of rhoticity. Future research could focus on other aspects of pronunciation that distinguish the American and British accents, such as flapping.
Volume 9 · Issue 5 · December 2022Enlightenment Thinking and its Consequences in Contemporary Kurdish Poetry
Lanja Abdurahman Ghareeb, Mohhammed Amin Abdullah
Enlightenment as an intellectual concept is the result of the perspectives of many thinkers and philosophers in the western world. It has become the source of deep change in the western culture and thinking; it has also come into the eastern world and culture. Eventually, the influence of that movement arrived at the Kurdish literature and can easily be found in the works of Kurdish poets and authors. They dealt with the phenomenon in accordance with their understanding in Kurdish poems. Although the influence of the phenomenon has not reflected in the minds of the Kurdish poets, due to the inappropriate conditions of our nation, as is the case in the western world, the Kurdish poets could take advantage from the various aspects of phenomenon and renew the content of the Kurdish poetry. Enlightenment poets played an effective role in raising the awareness of Kurdish society, especially those who were aware of the innovation movement in the world and had a deep understanding of the conditions of the Kurdish society. Hence, poetry became a moving and a educating message. As a result, we see that the content of the poetry of that period has experienced a remarkable change.