Journal of Social Studies

The Issue of Linguistic Duplicity Between the Pronunciation and Facilitation of AL-Hamza (A Historical Descriptive Study)

Aref Abduh Salim AL-Kaladi — 2024-11-05

This research falls within the issue of linguistic diglossia in contemporary Arabic, which is considered one of the main reasons for the delay in education and communication in the Arab world. The study addresses this issue from a specific angle: the linguistic duplicity between the pronunciation and facilitation of AL-Hamza. In this context, the research describes the Hamzah and traces its history, revealing that the linguistic diglossia between contemporary spoken Arabic and formal Arabic has ancient roots, stemming from the phonetic difficulty of the Hamzah. It was found that the facilitation observed in contemporary spoken Arabic is the same as the language of the urban centers of Hijaz, which is the language of the Quran that is considered as the center of the Arabic linguistic study. On the other hand, the pronunciation of Hamzah found in the formal language ascribes to the language of the Bedouins in the Arab desert. The research also explores the diglossia in Hamzah orthography, and a historical review reveals that the issue of its writing stems from this diglossia between the two languages. The study concludes by advocating for a strategic plan to transition the formal language from pronunciation to facilitation.

Racial Discrimination in Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing and Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird: A Comparative Study

Dr. Abdul Hamid Ahmed Nasser Al-Madari — 2024-11-05

Racial discrimination is one of the public problems that emerges in multicultural countries. The aim of the current research is to study racial discrimination in Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The process of analysis is confined to the analysis of the racial practices exercised by white people against black people in both novels. The research method is descriptive, analytical, and quantitative using a content analysis approach. The findings show that there is a similarity between the two established systems of racism: the system of racism in Africa, and the racial system in America. Some established rules and principles are to be respected in order to keep the white supremacy hegemonic. On the other hand, in The Grass Is Singing, Lessing portrays black people as criminals and rapists, who have to be punished for their crimes. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee describes black people as victims of crimes they have never committed. Moreover, the offensive racial words in To Kill a Mockingbird outnumber the offensive racial words in The Grass Is Singing. It can be said that the blacks are seen as victims of racial discrimination and racial stereotypes in both novels.

Translation Quality of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Translation Vs. Human Translation Utilizing MTPE Skills (An Empirical Study on Allusion Translation)

Ibrahim Jibreel — 2024-11-05

Allusion is one of the culture-bound expressions that need careful consideration while translating. Machine translation (MT) and human translators (HTs) encounter difficulties in dealing with them. This study compares Translation Quality (TQ) of MT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to HTs utilizing MTPE focusing on identifying the MTPE skills to keep HT in favor of MT and AI.

A quantitative and qualitative mixed method was adopted using a test of 30-item in-context English-to-Arabic allusions translated by Google Translate and ChatGPT and then given to a random sample of 40 HTs. The TQ of AI, MT and HT target texts were assessed following O'Brien's (2012) model. The participants wrote reports on MTPE skills and were involved in a focus group discussion to determine the MTPE skills used. One-Sample t-Test, One-Way ANOVA and POST HOC Test were used. Results show HTs utilizing MTPE are of Moderate Quality (60%), and MT and AI-based translations are of Low Quality (44.44% & 42.22%). HTs employ some MTPE skills and strategies that resulted in statistically significant differences between HTs of allusions compared to MT and AI in favor of HTs. The study recommends enhancing MTPE skills among translation students and implementing training for further developing translators.

Exploring the Challenges Faced by Translator Trainees in Translating Scientific and Technical Texts between Arabic and English: An Error Analysis Approach

Sameer Hameed Ahmed Saeed — 2024-11-05

This study investigated the challenges faced by translator trainees in translating scientific and technical texts between Arabic and English. A mixed-methods approach was utilized for this purpose. At first a structured questionnaire was administered to 46 trainees from three Yemeni universities to collect data on their translation experiences and challenges. Following this, a translation test was conducted with 40 trainees to generate a corpus of translation samples, comprising excerpts from a variety of scientific and technical texts. A total of 724 errors were identified through an error analysis of those translations, with 228 errors in English-to-Arabic and 496 in Arabic-to-English translations. The results indicated that lexical errors were most frequent, along with significant syntactic and orthographic errors. Findings suggest that linguistic, cultural, and cognitive factors contribute to these challenges. The analysis revealed that strengthening vocabulary and syntactic skills, alongside media-specific training, is critical for improving translation accuracy. The study underscores the need for specialized training programs addressing these identified areas, emphasizing that concerted efforts from both training institutions and researchers are essential to enhance the competencies of translator trainees working with the Arabic-English language pair.

The Impact of Strategic Vigilance on Crisis Management in Yemeni Sports Clubs

Iskander A. Sattar — 2024-11-12

This study investigated the impact of strategic alertness and its dimensions (social, legal, informational, technological, competitive, economic, and environmental) on crisis management in Yemeni sports clubs. Using descriptive and analytical methods, data were gathered through a questionnaire distributed to a purposive sample of 60 participants, with 54 valid responses (90% response rate). Statistical analysis of these responses revealed a significant correlation between strategic alertness across the listed dimensions and crisis management effectiveness in the clubs. Findings showed notable differences in participants' responses based on educational qualifications, job positions, and experience, while age showed no significant impact. The study recommends that Yemeni sports clubs adopt modern management concepts, such as strategic alertness, to boost competitiveness and address emerging opportunities and threats. Additionally, clubs should closely monitor updates in sports laws and regulations issued by relevant authorities.