International Journal of English Language

and Translation Studies

[ISSN: 2308-5460]

Vol-01, Issue-02
[July-September, 2013]

Editor-in-Chief
Mustafa Mubarak Pathan
Department of English Language & Translation Studies
The Faculty of Arts, the University of Sebha
Sebha, Libya

Indexed in:
DOAJ
Google Scholar
Index Coper nicus International
Isla mic World Science Citation Center
Linguistics Abstracts Online
Open J-gate

www.eltsjournal.org

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

Table of Contents
Sr.
No.
1
2

10
11
12

13

14

15

16

Title of the Paper / Name of the Author(s)/ Country

Editorial
A Socio-linguistic Perspective to the Language Change of Television News
Broadcasting in Iran
- Shahla Simin, Hosna Kasma ee, Atiye Ezzati, Freshteh Teimouri &
Arineh Minasian, Iran
EFL Learners Difficult Role Transition from Secondary School to University:
From the P erspective and Perceptions of EFL Teachers of TBLT in Western
China
- Feng Teng, China
English Language Teaching and Learning during Holiday Camps: A Case Study
from Malaysia
- Dr. Ria Hanewald, Malaysia
English Metafunction Analysis in Chemistry Text: Characterization of Scientific
Text
- Ahma d Amin Dalimunte, M.Hum, Indonesia
Investigating the Difficulties Faced in Understanding, and Strategies Used in
Processing, English Idioms by the Libyan Students
- Noura Winis Ibrahim Saleh & Dr. Moha mmed Hassan Zakaria ,
Malaysia
MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning): A Paradise for English Language
Learners
- Dr. Suneetha Yedla, India
Metaphors about EFL Teachers' Roles: A Case of Iranian Non-English-Major
Students
- Mohsen Akbari, Iran
Mother Tongue Influence : A Thorn in the Flesh of Technocrats in the Global
Market
- Dr. S. Mohan, India
Teaching Creative Thinking Skills
- Dr. Nagamurali Eragamreddy, Libya
The Importance of a Dystopia n Hero in Sara Gruens Water for Elephants
Bassmah Bassam Khaled AlTaher, Jordan
The Leverage of a Proposed Post Process Writing Approach Program on
Developing the EFL Al-Azhar Secondary Students' Writing Skills
- Ismail Ibrahim Elshirbini Abdel-Fattah El-Ashri, Egypt
The Translator's Agency and the Ideological Manipulation in Translation: the
Case of Political Texts in Translation Classrooms in Iran
- Katayoon Afzali , Iran
The Use of Photo-Elicitation Interview in Sociolinguistics: The Case Study of
Awareness about the Use of Borrowings in Tlemcen Speech Community Algeria
- Mrs. Rahmoun-Mrabet Razzia, Alger ia
Uncertainty and Uncertainty Management: the Metacognitive State of ProblemSolving of Professional (experienced) Translators and Students of Translation
Studies
- Zahra Amirian & Moha mad J. Baghiat, Iran
Using Native Language in ESL Classroom
- Dr. Isa SPAHIU, Macedonia

Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

Page
Number
03
04-08

09-23

24-37

38-49

50-65

66-72

73-82

83-90

91-105
106-119
120-141

142-151

152-161

162-175

176-179

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

The Use of Photo-Elicitation Interview in Sociolinguistics: The Case Study of Awareness
about the Use of Borrowings in Tlemcen Speech Community Algeria
Mrs. Rahmoun-Mrabet Razzia,
Tlemcen, Algeria
Abstract
The aim o f this study is to show how photo-elicitation, which is embedded wit h ethnographic
work, is used to collect sociolinguist ic data. It also aims at showing how these data have
demonstrated Algerians awareness about the use of borrowings fro m French and how these
borrowings are adapted to the mother tongue i.e. Algerian Arabic. The study was conducted
in Tlemcen speech co mmunit y in a stratified sample populat ion of 57 informants whose age
ranges fro m less than 15 to more than 60 years. In the research, the photos were not taken but
were downloaded from the internet. The informants were asked to ident ify each of the 50
photos in the mother tongue, i.e. Algerian Arabic then, to give the plural form of each. This
allowed us to compare the way in which adaptation was made according to age, gender, and
level o f educat ion. On the other hand, this technique enabled to describe the way in which
nouns inflect fro m singular into plural form. The analys is of the result s enabled to discover
the factors under which such or such form is chosen.
As Algeria was lo ng co lonised by France, almost all Algerians are bilingual; their everyday
speech is characterized by code-switching and by the use of borrowings fro m French. In that
respect, the present study shows that the informants are conscious that the words they were
using in the dialect were in fact derived fro m French, except for some words. Even children
showed that they were conscious that they used words which originate fro m French.
Keywords: Photo-elicitation interview, socio linguistics, borrowings, awareness, inflect ions.

Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

152

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

1. Introduction
Because of its locat ion and its historical background, Algeria is considered as a
mult ilingual country. Arabic, Berber and French coexist, besides many other foreign
languages such as Spanish and English. Thus, many Algerians are bilingual, if not
mult ilingual and various phenomena rise fro m this language contact. Interference, codeswitching and borrowing are the most prominent outcomes of this language contact.
What can easily be noticed in Algeria is that everyday speech is characterised by codeswitching fro m dialectal Arabic as opposed to Modern Standard Arabic and French or by the
use borrowings. The latter are somet imes so adapted that they sound Arabic, and it is really
difficult to guess whether the word has Arabic origin or has been derived fro m French.
Some words are also borrowed fro m Spanish and Turkish but the present study will dea l
essent ially with French borrowings
1.1Code-switching and Borrowing
Wardaugh (2006: 10) observes that in a conversation between two or more parties, the
person chooses to use a particular dialect or language; the dialect or language chosen
according to the occasion are codes. He indicates that it is unusual for a speaker to use only
one code. He adds that:
co mmand of only a single variet y of language, whether it be a dialect, style, or register,
would be an extremely rare phenomenon () People, then, are usually required to select a
particular code whenever they choose to speak, and they may also decide to switch from one
code to another or to mix codes even wit hin somet imes very short utterances and thereby
create a new code in process known as code-switching. Wardaugh (Idem)
Code-switching is also called code-mixing and it can occur in conversat ions between
speakers turn or within a single speakers turn. In the latter case, we can dist inguish intrasentential code-switching (i.e. within the same sentence) from inter-sentent ial codeswitching (i.e. occurring between sentences).
Poplack (1978-1980) says that the combinat ion of two languages in intra-sentent ial codeswitching may cause problems o f inco mpat ibilit y, such as word order and mismatches in
grammat ical categories, morpho logy and idio matic expressio ns. She says that at first,
researchers considered intra-sentent ial code-switching as rando m and deviant but now they
unanimously agree that it is grammat ically constrained. She speaks about the equivalence
constraint saying that:
The boundary between adjacent fragments occurs between two constituents that are
ordered in the same way in both languages, ensuring the linear coherence o f sentence
structure without omitting or duplicat ing lexical content. (Poplack 1978-1980)
She adds that the equivalence constraint has been verified in various language pairs but that
most of the literature related to code-switching is based on data which represent lexica l
borrowing. According to her, code-switching and borrowing are based on different
mechanis ms, whereas others consider single-word (i.e. insertion) and mult iple-word (i.e.
alternat ion) occurrences as two forms of code-switching.
She has proposed three types o f criteria to draw a dist inct ion between code-switching and
borrowing. These types include whether or not single lexical items fro m a donor language in
code-switched utterances are phono logically, mo rpho logically, and syntact ically integrated
into what she calls base language. If the integration is at the three levels, then, it is
Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

153

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

considered as a borrowing, on the other hand, if there is no adaptation at all, it is considered
as code-switching, and if the integration is at one level of only, it is also considered as codeswitching.
1.2 Awareness about the Use of Borrowings
Algerian Arabic is full o f borrowed words from French. However, it was aimed to invest igate
if the informants were aware of their use of borrowings. It was assumed that educated and old
people were more aware than the youngest and the less educated ones. In order to check this
hypothesis, photo elicitat ion interviews were used.
2. Methodology
2.1 The Sample Population
Socio linguists tried to achieve representativeness through the use of socio logica l
methods such as the construction of a rando m sample of the targeted group, i.e. through
interviewing people who are selected randomly, because the researcher cannot interview
his/her own group of friends. Such a select ion would not be representative Tagliamo nte
(2006: PP: 18-19) .
According to Milro y (1987: 24), rando m sampling aims at avo iding the fo llowing
difficult ies:
(a) select ion influenced consciously or unconsciously by human cho ice
(b) inadequate coverage of the populat ion
(c) inabilit y to find certain sect ion of the populat ion
(d) lack of cooperation by certain subsect ions
Thus, rando m sampling requires that the researcher does not know the individuals he/she is
talking with.
Another kind of sampling is stratified rando m sampling also known as quasi-rando m or
judgment sampling. This method of sampling requires: not that the sample be a miniature
versio n of the populat ion, but only that we have the possibilit y of making inference about the
populat ion based on the sample Sanko ff (1980)
This means that in order to achieve representativeness, one does not need to have a
reduced versio n o f the who le populat ion but a sample fro m which one can make deductions.
This can be acco mplished by stratifying the sample according to other variables, which are
thought to influence language variat ion, such as age, gender, place of birth and so on.
This study opted for the second kind i.e. the stratified rando m sampling. The t ypes of
speakers to be studied were ident ified in advance and delimited a proportion of speakers who
fit the specified categories, according to the issues and the hypotheses.
As it was hypothesized that age, gender, and level of educat ion are factors that could
influence code-switching or the use of borrowings, the sample populat ion were divided into 5
sub-categories ranging fro m children to informants who exceeded 60 years o f age.
The first sub-category was co mposed of 4 individuals who were less than 15 years old, 2 of
who m were males and the 2 others were females; all o f them were classified as less educated
since none o f them got the baccalaureate degree.
The second sub-group was composed o f 13 informants whose age varied between 16 and
25 years, 9 of who m were educated and 4 were less educated. Among the 9 educated
individuals, 3 were males and 6 were females. As the sample populat ion was selected semirando mly, we had no less-educated female.
Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

154

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

13 informants made the third sub-category, their age varied between 26 and 40 years. 8 o f
them were educated, 4 of who m were males and the other 4 were females; and 5 were less
educated males.
In the fourth sub-category, out of 13 informants who were between 41 and 60 years old, 7
were educated, 4 of who m were males and 3 were females; and 6 were less educated, 3 of
who m were males and 4 were females.
The last sub-group was made of 14 informants who were more than 60 years old. 7 of them
were educated and the other 7 were less educated. Out of the 7 educated informants, 3 were
males and 4 were females; the 7 less educated individuals were divided into 3 males and 4
females.
Thus, the total number of educated males was 14, the total number of educated females
was 17, that of less educated males was 17 and that of les educated females was 9. Therefore,
the total number of informants was 57
2.2 Photo-elicitation
Photo-elicitat ion is embedded with ethnographic work (Prosser, 1998). Photo-elicitat ion
interview or PEI has focused on photos taken by the researcher as an ice breaker act ivit y
used wit h children (Collier, 1987; Hazel, 1996). It is also referred to as photo-interviewing or
project ive interviewing (Taylor, 2002; Norman, 1991). Yet, in this research, the photos were
not taken but were downloaded fro m the internet. This technique was used wit h all the
informants in order to test their awareness about their use of borrowings and to invest igate
how these borrowings are adapted to the mother tongue. The informants were asked to
ident ify each of the 50 photos in the mother tongue, i.e. Algerian Arabic then, to give the
plural form o f each. This allowed co mparing the way in which adaptation was made
according to age, gender, and level of educat ion.
Thus, the list of photographs enabled to test the informants awareness o f their use o f
borrowings as well as to describe the way in which nouns inflect fro m singular into plura l
form. There may be different ways for the same word according to gender or to other social
factors. The analys is o f the results enabled to discover the factors under which such or such
form is chosen.
Through the use o f the list o f photographs, we were surprised to discover that all the
informants were conscious that the words they were using in the dialect were in fact derived
fro m French, except for so me words such as /lmbot/, / brwet/ or /nibli/ which mean
funnel, wheelbarrow and small balls respectively. These words are so adapted that
even educated people did not guess that they were , in fact, derived from the French words
lembout /lembU/ (even though the right translat ion of /lmbot/ is entonno ir),
brouette /bUEt/ and les billes /lebij/ respect ively.
Even children showed that they were conscious that they used words which originate fro m
French. Some of them said that when they did not know a word in Arabic, (they meant
dialectal Arabic), they just distorted the French word and got it in Arabic.
In this sense, we may invalidate our hypothesis in which we assumed that less educated and
young people were not aware about their use of borrowings and that the latter would rather
use words from standard Arabic
Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

155

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

When showings the photographs corresponding to broom, bag, cart, stricker,
padlock , most informants used the borrowed words /bale/, /saSe/, /panje/, /frotwar/ and
/kadna/ and they could have used the words /knnQs/, /Skara/,/?ffa/, /krrat/ and /?fl/
respectively. Thus, even when having equivalents in their dialect, most informants used
borrowed words.
It was surprise to discover that the same French word and it s adapted form could have
different representations in the minds o f the informants, i.e. the same signifier (significant in
Saussures terms) and its adapted form could stand for different signified (signifis in
Saussures terms). For instance, when showing the photograph represent ing the brooms,
many informants said that for them, the modern one was /bale/ and the tradit ional one was
/mkUnsa/. For the photograph represent ing the watercolor, most informants used the word
peinture wit h no adaptation and when asked about the word /bntUra/ which is the adapted
form, they replied that the latter stood for wall paint.
2.3 Inflection of Borrowed Nouns
Nouns inflect according to various frames, what we call awzen in Standard Arabic.
Regular plurals inflect by adding /un/ to the masculine singular and /Qt/ to the feminine; it is
realized as [Qts] in the dialect of Tlemcen. However, there are other forms, which are
irregular, what we call in Arabic djam taksir. Thus, many borrowed words form their
plural according to frames fro m Arabic.
It would be impossible to make the inventory of all the borrowed words, therefore, as
pointed out before; we are going to use the words from the list of photographs, which was
given to the informants.
The fo llowing table is given as an illustration, with examples o f the original frame when the
plural is irregular.
Table: 1 Inflections of singular nouns into plural
Noun

Original item

Meaning

Plural

01-[fUtei]
02- [prsjQn]
03- [ridU]
04- [saSe]
05- [forana]
[fUlara]
06- [sak]

Fauteuil
persiennes
Rideau
Sachet
Foulard

Arm-chair
Blinds
Curtain
Bag
Scarf

Sac

Hand bag

[fUtejQts]
[prsjQnQts]
[ridUjQts]
[saSijQts]
[foranQts]
[fularQts]
[sekan]

07- [panje]
08- [brosa]
09- [pEso]
10- [trotwar]
[tretwar]
[tetwar]
11- [frotwar]
[frtwar]
12- [bale]
13- [fQliza]
[vQliza]
14- [karne]
15- [bUki]

Panier
Brosse
Pinceau
trottoir

Cart
brush
brush
sidewalk

frottoir

Stricker

Balai
Valise

Broom
Suitcase

Carnet
Bouquet

Notebook
Bouquet

Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

Example of
original frame

the

/nar/ /nirn/ (fire)

[panijQts]
[brosats]
[ pEsojQts]
[trotwarjQts]
[tretwarjQts]
[tetwarjQts
[frotwarjQts]
[frtwarjQts]
[balijQts]
[fQlizQts]
[vQlizQts]
[karnijQts]
[bUkijQts]

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

156

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

16- [bontof]
[pUntUf]
[patUfla]

pantoufle

Slipper

[bontofQts]
[pUntUfQts]
[patUflQts]

17- [lega]
[lego]
18- [lebot]

Gant

Glove

Botte

Boot

19- [sadal]
20- [SofaZ]

Sandale
chauffage

Sandal
Heating

21- [kQSni]
[kaSne]
22- [kriUn]
[qalemrrasas]
23- [stilU]
24- [lag m]

Cache-nez

Muffler

Crayon

Pencil

[lega]
[legonQts]
[lebot]
[lebotQts]
[lesadal]
[SofaZQts]
[leSofaZ]
[sofaZats]
[kQSnijQts]
[kaSnejQts]
[kriUnQts]

St ylo
Gomme

Pen
Rubber

25- [kUstim]
26- [bone]

Costume
bonnet

cap

27- [rs r]
[rosor]
[resor]
28- [bidUn]
[bidU]

ressort

Spring

bidon

Bucket

29- [Zili]
[Zilija]
30- [krava t a]
[grava t a]
31- [lmbot ]
32- [brwet ]

gilet

Vest

cravate

Tie

Entonnoir
Brouette

Funnel
Wheelbarrow

33- [Zypa]

Jupe

Skirt

34- [Zrnan]

journal

Newspaper

35- [kUvli]
[kovert a]
[kUrbita]
36- [broS]

Couvre-lit
couverture

Bedspread
coverage

Broche

Pin

37- [niblija]
[nibli]

Bille

Ball

38- [kUpgl]
39- [briki]
[brika]
40- [gUmEt]
[gomret ]

Coupe-ongles
Briquet

Nail clipper
Lighter

gourmette

Curb

41- [lUki]
42- [lamoto]

loquet
Moto

Latch
Motorcycles

Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

[stilUjQts]
[legom]
[legomats]
[kUstimQts]
[bonejQts]
[rsorQts]
[rosorQts]
[resorQts]
[bidUnQts]
[bjQdn]
[bidUjQts]
[ZilijQts]
[krava t
[krav t
[lmbot
[brawt

ats]
]
ats]
]/

[ZypQts]
[leZyp]
[Zrann]
[kUvli]
[kovert ats]
[krQbt]
[lebroS]
[leb oS]
[niblijQts]
[liblijQts]
[nibli]
[lekUpgl]
[brikijQts]
[brikQts]
[gUrmEtQts]
[gramt ]

Srwet /
/Srawt /
(wiper)

/?aft an/ /?tat n/

(caftan)
A traditional cloth

/brnos/ /brans /
(cap)

[lUkijQts]
[lamotoQts]
[motojQts]

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

157

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

43- [kQmjUn]
[smi]

Camion
Semiremorque

Truck
Semi-trailer

44- [bisklit]
[bisklita]
45- [brasle]
46- [zigU]
[egU]
[rgar]/[rogar]
47- [pn]
48- [kadna]

Bicyclette

Bicycle

Bracelet
gout

Bracelet
Sewer

Regard
Pneu
Cadenas

Tire
Padlock

49- [portabl]
[tirifUn]
[tilifUn]
50- [sertQt]

Portable
tlphone

Mobile
Phone

Serre-tte

Headband

[kQmjUnQts]
[kwQmn]
[smijQts]
[bisklitQts]

/kQbUs/ /kwQbs/
(gun)

[braslejQts]
[zigUjQts]
[lezegU]
[rogarats]
[pnQwQts]
[kadnats]
[lekadna]
[portablQts]
[tirifUnQts]
[tilifUnQts]
[sertQtQts]
[lese tQt]

Because of limitat ions of the study, all the examples in the table can not be discussed.
Therefore, some of the examples have been selected and analyzed/
Example 5: it is observed fro m this example that the less educated women tend to pronounce
the word as [forana] wit h a metathesis and a dissimilat ion, i.e. wit h a reversal o f /l/ and //,
which is realised as [r], but since the pronunciatio n o f /forala/ would be difficult so /l/ is
dissimilated and realised as [n]. /U/ is realised as [o]
/fUla /

[forana]
/U/

[o]
/ /

[r]
/l/

[n]
Example 10
Educated people tend to pronounce the word / /totwa/ trottoir (side walk) is either the
same way as in French i.e. keeping the uvular // or realising it as an alveo lar [r]. However
less educated individuals tend to pronounce it either as [t et war] or as [trtwar]; in the
former, the first // is o mitted, /o/ is realised as [], /t/ is pharyngealised and realised as [t ],
the second // is realised as [r]. In the latter, // is realised as [r] and /o/ is realised as [];
this may be a case o f hypercorrection since // is a phoneme which characterises French and
which is not found in Arabic.
/totwa/ [ t et war]
//
/o/ [ ]
/t/ [ t ]
// [ r]
/totwa/ [ trtwar]
/o/ [ ]
// [ r]
Example 21:
The word cache-nez (muffler) is co mposed o f two words, but the inflect ion into the plural
form is done as if it were a single word. we observed that less educated people, or people who
are around 45 years o ld and more tend to pronounce [kQSni] and [kQSnijQts]; whereas
younger and educated people tend to pronounce the singular form as it is pronounced in
Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

158

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

French i.e. [kaSne].Yet, the plural form is inflected as single words do, adding /Qts/ to the
singular. But since the words end with a vowel, /Qts/ is realised as [jQts].
Example 28:
The word bidon which normally stands for the word t in is used in Algerian Arabic
instead of sceau to mean bucket, in most cases it is adapted to the form [bidUn] or less
frequently to the form [bidU] since the phoneme /o/ does not exist in Arabic. The most
commo n plural form is [bjQdn] but it may inflect into [bidUnQts] or into [bidUjQts].
/U/ [o]
Example 31:
The word /lmbot / comes fro m the French word embout but in Algerian Arabic it is
incorrectly used to mean funnel; the correct word being entonno ir. Through observat ion,
we noticed that most individuals are not aware that the word /lmbot / is derived fro m
French. The definite article l is kept and is realised wit h more air in t he mouth, as a result
of regressive assimilat ion of /t/ which is pharyngealised and which is realised as [t ]. /b/ is
also realised wit h more air in the mouth. Since the nasalised vowel /e/ does not exist in
Arabic, it is realised as two phonemes [m]instead of [n] because of the influence of the
labial /b/. It is a case of regressive assimilat ion.
/t/ [t ]
/e/ [em] - [labial]
/b/ [b ] - [labial]
/l/ [] - [labial]
Example 32:
The word / brwet / is derived fro m the French word brouette (wheelbarrow). We have
noticed that most people are not aware that the word is took its origin fro m French. The plura l
form o f the word is /brawt / which has the same frame as the word /Srwet / /Srawt :/
(wiper). In the word /brwet /, the phoneme /t/ is pharyngealised and realised as [t ] and
its influences the realisat ion of /r/ and /b/ through regressive assimilat ion. The latter
phonemes are realised wit h more air in the mouth.
Example 35:
The word / kUvli/ does not really belo ng to the repertoire of men, thus most males have not
given this word; they eit her gave the word /kovert a/ (coverage) or /kUrbita/. The former
may be derived fro m the French word couverture and the second fro m Spanish cuvierta.
In the word / kovert a/, the phoneme /t/ is pharyngealised and realised as [t ], /u/ is realised
as [o] and // as [e].
Example 37:
The word /nibli/ co mes fro m the French word les billes (balls) which is already in its plural
form. Some informants used the word / niblija/ fo r the singular and /niblijQts/ for the plural.
Some individuals realise the word as [libli] and [liblijQts] and most of them are unaware that
the word is obtained from the French word. In the word /nibli/, the definite article les has
beco me /ni/ and /bij/ has beco me /bli/.
Example 40:
The word gourmette (curb) is generally known by wo men but is not part of mens
repertoire. For men it is /brasle/. Wo men pronounce the word either as it is i.e. keeping the
Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

159

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

phoneme / / or realizing it as /r/. But even those who realize it as [gUmEt] in the singular
pronounce the word in plural wit h the realisat ion of / / as /r/ i.e. [gUrmtEts].
It was noticed that old women tended to realise the word as [gomret ] with a metathesis i.e.
the switch o f // and /m/, the former being realised as /r/. /u/ is also realised as[o] and /E/ as
[e]. The plural form is [gramt ] with a frame taken fro m /brans / (caps).
+m m+r
/U/ [o]
/E/ [e]
t/ [t ]
3. Conclusion
The fact that Algeria is a bilingual country leads individuals to switch fro m one variet y to
another. Shift ing fro m one linguist ic code to another implies a certain degree o f co mpetence
in the languages invo lved and therefore, requires a previous stage of bilingualism. In contrast,
borrowing does not require complete individual bilingual co mpetence but is a consequence o f
close contact. Therefore, borrowing occurs when mo no lingual speakers start using forms
fro m a foreign language without being aware that those forms are not part of their nat ive
lexical inventory.
In this sense, the current study enabled to check whether people in Algeria especially
speakers fro m Tlemcen speech co mmunit y were aware of their use o f borrowings. It was
assumed that awareness varied according to some social factors such as age, gender, and level
of education. It was hypothesised that children and less educated people were not aware of
their use of borrowings, but the investigation allowed to invalidate this hypothesis.
As language is dynamic and as research never reaches an ult imate point, the research
questions of the study should be further explored and checked. As one does not how language
will evo lve, if Algerians will carry on using French or will diverge towards a more frequent
use of Arabic, one has to plan for further research. One may wonder about Algerians future
behavior. Will they ident ify more with Arabic?
About the Author:
Mrs. Rahmoun-Mrabet Razzia is a research scho lar and Ph. D student . She has published
and participated in internat ional conferences. She also works as a teacher o f English wit h the
Preparatory School o f Sciences and Techniques, Tlemcen, Algeria. She has considerable
research in the field o f Sociolinguist ics and present paper is part of that research work in the
Tlemcen, Algeria
References
Collier, J. (1987). Visual Anthropologys Contributions to the Field o f Anthropology. Visual
Anthropology, 1, 37-46.
Hazel, N. (1996). Eliciting Techniques with Young People. Guildford, UK: Universit y of
Surrey Press.
Milro y, L. (1987). Language and Social Networks. 2nd edit ion, Basil Blackwell Ltd.
Poplack, S. (1980). Somet imes Ill Start a Sentence in English y Termino en Espaol:
Toward a Typo logy of code-switching. Linguistics, 18, 581-618.
Norman, W. R. (1991). Photography as a Research Tool. Visual Anthropology, 4, 193-216.
Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

160

International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460

Poplack, S. (1978/81).The Syntactic Structure and Social Funct ion o f Code-switching. In
R.P. Duran(ed.),Latino Discourse and communicative Behaviour. New Jersey, Ablex
Publishing Corporation,169-84.
Prosser, Jon, (ed.), 1998. Image-based research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researcher.
Bristol, PA, Falmer Press.
Sanko ff, G. (1980). The Social Life of Language, Universit y of Pennsylvania Press,
Philadelphie,1980, 373 p.
Tagliamo nte, S. (2006). Analysing Sociolinguistic variation. Cambridge Universit y Press.
Taylor, E. W. (2002). Using St ill Photography in Making Meaning o f Adult Educators'
Teaching Beliefs. Studies in the Education of Adults, 34(2), 123-139.
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An introduction to Sociolinguistics. 5 th edit ion. Blackwell Publishing
Ltd.

Vol-1, Issue-2

July-September, 2013

www.eltsjournal.org

CC-BY-NC

161