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US-China
Foreign Language
Volume 14, Number 2, February 2016 (Serial Number 149)
Contents
Language Research
The Methodology of Creating “Terminology” in Rhetoric and Criticism Terms Dictionaries 79
Dr. Abbas Abdul-Halim Abbas, Dr. Ayman Yasin
On the Nonce Variant of English Idioms 90
WANG Chao-fan, MENG Fan-mao
Teaching Theory & Practice

The Effect of a Flipping Classroom on Writing Skill in English as a Foreign Language and
Students’ Attitude Towards Flipping 98
Mervat Abd Elfatah Ali Said Ahmed
The Establishment of Strategy-Training-Based Writing Teaching Mode via Language
Experiment Platform (LEP) 115
JIAO Li-xia
Developing Students’ Global Perspectives in Secondary Chinese Classrooms 121
GAO Jing
Translation Research
A Crossroads of Seven Streets: A Control Mechanism of Trilingual Scientific Texts
Translations 129
Christidou Sofia
On the Translation of “pride” in Pride and Prejudice 149
LI Xiu-li
Literary Appreciation
On “Great Dreams” in Great Expectations 157
JING Jing, JING Xia

US-China Foreign Language, February 2016, Vol. 14, No. 2, 79-89
doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.001
D DAVID PUBLISHING
The Methodology of Creating “Terminology” in Rhetoric and

Criticism Terms Dictionaries
Dr. Abbas Abdul-Halim Abbas Dr. Ayman Yasin

Arab Open University, Princess Sumayya University for Technology,
Amman, Jordan Amman, Jordan
This paper addresses the classification of scholars’ interests in the rhetoric and criticism terms when creating
dictionaries. It further gives examples of the most prominent works in this field. After that, the research studies one
of these works. Thus, the paper goes gradually from the general to the specific to explain the main argument and
prove it by concrete evidence. Through the paper, the researcher uncovers the dominant approach in this field. The
paper starts with the historic methodology used by some scholars, and then it moves to the descriptive methodology
used by others. The researcher also reviews the flaws of using the alphabetical method used in both methodologies.
The research concludes that lexicologists and researchers have to reconsider the way they build dictionaries and set
terms. It also suggests that a term dictionary is a not a list of terms but a system.
Keywords: literary criticism, dictionary, terms, terminology, rhetoric
Introduction
The interest in a “term” of a science field is the interest in the essence of that field and its primary concept
because the term is a descriptor of its origin, a conveyor of this science, and a basis for the future of that science.
Because of this realization, an active movement in specialized dictionaries has been formed and undertaken by
institutions and language academies. Individuals in a various Arab countries were concerned about it. This
“dictionary” activity would not have formed if there were no real sense of the necessity of controlling, tabulating,
and organizing the terms of any science that ensures correct understanding and proper curriculum for concerned
people. Then, we started to hear a variety of titles of “terms” dictionaries such as: Psychology Terms Dictionary,
Military Terms Dictionary, Administrative Terms Dictionary, inter alia. It is no doubt that the need for precision
and organization in criticism terms field is tougher and deeper, particularly in knowledge fields that its inputs are
no longer limited to what a single language produces. Rather, the presence of translators and newcomers from
other languages become essential in such fields including primarily Literary Criticism.
An Attempt for Classification

The care of linguists, terminologists, and interested researchers has two folds: The first was theoretical. It
included the studies that were specialized in “the term” and lexicography, especially those which addressed special
lexicological issues whether in part or in whole. It seemed to me that those could be classified into four fields:
Dr. Abbas Abdul-Halim Abbas, Ph.D., Arabic Department, Arab Open University.
Dr. Ayman Yasin, Ph.D., Coordination Unit for Service Courses, Princess Sumayya University for Technology.

80 THE METHODOLOGY OF CREATING “TERMINOLOGY”
(1) Conferences, symposiums, and special volumes in literary periodicals that were concerned with
criticism terms and their specialized lexicography;
(2) Books and complete thesis that discussed criticism terms and related issues;
(3) Research papers and studies published in refereed periodicals, and chapters in books that discussed an
aspect or more of “literary terms”;
(4) Public articles that discuss “the term” published in public cultural and literal periodicals.
Perhaps the order that was mentioned before reflects the gradual importance of these efforts. It shows that
the conferences and symposiums on local, Arabian, or international levels discussing the terms of criticism and
their lexicography come on the top priorities since they reflect the worry that the conferees and the attendees
have about the problem of criticism terms and their lexical meaning. Despite the hard job of collecting all
relevant papers presented in these conferences and special issues, the researcher tried his best to get as many of
these papers as possible in order to have a representative sample that could reflect the image, vision, and
concern of the people involved in this field. To have a closer look of these perceptions, I will mention some of
the most prominent works in this filed:
(1) International symposium in Al-derasah al-mustalahiyah wal-‘ouloum al-islamiyyah (The “Term”
Study and Islamic Sciences), Seedi Mohammad Bin Abdullah University, Fas, Jazaan, 1993 AD;
(2) A symposium about Qadayah al-mustalah Fi al-aadaab wal-‘ouloum al-insaniyyah (Term Issues in
Literature and Human Sciences), Mawla Ismael University, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Meknas,
2000 AD;
(3) A symposium about Al-mustalah al-naqdi wa ‘alaqatuhu bi-mukhtalaf al-‘ouloum (The Criticism
Term and Its Relation With Other Sciences), in a special issue of the journal of Faculty of Literature and
Human Sciences in Fas, No. 24, 1988 AD;
(4) A symposium about Al-mustalah: qadaayaah waishkaaliyyaatuh (The Term, Its Issues and Problems),
within a special issue for the journal of Landmarks in Literary Criticism, Literary Club, Jeddah, issue 8,
Volume 2, 1993 AD;
(5) File of Al-mustalah al-naqdi (The Critical Term), in a special issue in the Fusoul journal, issues 3 and
4, Volume 7, April–September 1987 AD.
Perhaps the hermeneutical read for the titles of these texts and research papers presented in these files and
symposiums tells us how humble is the Arabic work of “the term” in the “literary criticism” field. Otherwise,
how could we explain holding a dedicated conference about “the ‘term’ issues of literature and human
sciences”1 in which the participants were concerned about establishing an initial theory that seeks to define the
concept of the term and the nature of term structure and suchlike? The prevailing feeling here is that the study
of Arabic term in literary criticism field is still crawling, as is the case in lexicography field.2
So we are not able to endorse the general issues of the term. We have not either gone beyond the primary
fundamentals yet to negotiate more specific and deeper details in the philosophy of lexical projects of criticism
terms.
1
This was the title of a symposium that was held in Mawla Ismail University in Meknas, 9–11 March, 2000.
2
Some of the conference proceedings were: “The Structure of the Term: Theoretical Nature and Applied Patterns” by Dr Jawad
Sama’neh, pp. 41-66; “Issues in Structuring ‘The Term’” by Dr Amina Afnan, pp. 67-90; “The Concept of ‘the Term’” by Dr.
Idrees Al-Tarrah, pp. 91-95.

THE METHODOLOGY OF CREATING “TERMINOLOGY” 81
An Analysis Sample
Let’s take another example for one of the research files that were published in one of the criticism
periodicals on the term in the field of literary criticism. A number of major critics and Arab researchers
participated in this file like Abdul Al-Salam Al-Musdi, Ezz Al-deen Ismail, Hamadi Sammoud, Abdul
Al-Wahid Lu’lu’ah, Mohammed Abdul-Muttalib among others. Let’s look wholly at the features of the nature
of studying criticism terms and the technical visions that come up. Generally speaking, they are features that
are almost enclosed between general term drafting mechanism, and other insights that study the bases of the
term.3 This indicates that those features were more concerned with general term issues that express individual
attempts to establish specialized literature in criticism terms. It also indicates the absence of institutional
literature in the development of contemporary Arabic literary criticism. At the same time, we have an
abundance of critical accomplishments in the fields of curricula and critical theories and their procedural
applications on various literary texts. As a result, the researchers who made those attempts found themselves
facing serious challenges regarding the lack of a well-established term to count on and refer to in literary
criticism. Therefore, the analysis of the ideas contained in these pieces of research points out two important
issues:
First: the individual flavor for establishing criticism terms on the theoretical and practical levels. The
efforts that discuss the problem of the term and its coinage are far away from the institutional work that
revolves around the role of specialized research institutions in the field of terminology, not to mention that such
institutions do not even exist. Although the linguistic centers address the term as part of their activities, they are
dedicated to it entirely. As a matter of fact, the duties of the “terminology” work shall be handed to,
Scientific and technical organizations, higher education institutions and universities, professional organizations,
specification institutions, managerial and governmental bodies, information and knowledge institutions, and under certain
exceptional cases, individuals who mostly pave the way for certain committees in scientific, technical or professional
organizations to define or develop certain terms. (Flipper, 1988, p. 206)
Researcher may notice that the efforts presented by Abdullah Al-Ghathami or Abdul-Salam Al-Masadi,
Ezz Al-Deen Esmail, and Tawfiq Al-Zaydi, even Abdul-Qader Al-Fasi Al-Fahri are considered as individual
efforts which are not based on academic and scientific institutions or organizations.
Second: neglecting Arab term heritage and ignoring it, as if criticism term started out of scratch. For
example, a special issue of Landmarks in Literary Criticism Journal was dedicated to the term. It included a
symposium specialized in “The Term: Its Issues and Problems” as well as nine specialized research papers.
However, it was almost devoid of views in the fundamentals of criticism terms used by ancient critics and Arab
researcher. Perhaps Mohammad Abdul-Muttalib’s research is the only one that came nearly close to that
although it was oriented and confined to specific terms. In fact, the beginning of his research unraveled his
desire to thoroughly study the terms of ancient Arabs grammarians and critics. Abdul-Muttalib (1993) explains
that,
Looking into these terms indicates that they originated from three sources. Some belong to the innovator (writer),
some to the receiver (reader), and most to the text itself. In general, we can notice some sort of overlapping suggesting that
3
See “Remarks in Literary Criticism”, a special issue about “The term and its Problems”, issue 8, Vol. 2, 1993. See also “The
Criticism Terms and Mechanisms for Coinage” by Abdul-Salam Al-Masadi, pp. 53-108; “The Crisis of the Criticism Terms” by
Abdul-Wahid Lu’lu’ah, pp. 161-168.

the term may relate to two sources, or even to three. This means that the old method of teaching was familiar with the
connection process between the three sources and the triple pillars. (p. 198)
Accordingly, Abdul-Muttalib formed his terms in this tri-directional approach whose theoretical
philosophy can be invested in uncovering the process of rhetorical and critical term in our heritage and culture.
The approach is considered as a scientific achievement in establishing an Arab effort that develops the theory
of the term; “a theory that involves the rhetorical and critical terms which have signs about the procession of
the literal and critical culture and the language of the nation in which they emerge. Terms are the fruit of the
literary, linguistic and creative procession, and they are connected to the culture” (Yaghi, 2003, p. 32). Terms
have shed light on our modern culture despite all of the modern features we live with. This is best explained by
specialists who describe the interrelations between modern and old rhetorical, critical, and linguistic terms such
as intertextuality and its relation with plagiarism, stylistic deviation and its relation with negligence, necessity,
and irregularity, ambiguity and its relation with vagueness and complexity, and other issues that show that the
old term is considered as a prerequisite and the origin for the modern term.
However, these views represent the beginning of real efforts that were exerted to establish an Arab critical
term project since this kind of project “requires some sort of knowledge foundation that depends on consecutive
stages which, in total, lead to total to what we call literary criticism science” (Al-Masadi, 1994, p. 9). This, in
turn, will qualify such a project to be present among regional and international projects that are interested in the
literary criticism term. In fact, all previous attempts did not pay any attention to the literary criticism field as
one of the human knowledge fields that is supposed to have its special terms achievements and that is capable
of addressing its own terms according to the general terminology theory or its sub-theories. Such theories were
almost completely directed towards scientific fields such as medicine and engineering.
To account for such negligence in the literary criticism field, Ahmad Matloub states that,
In Arabic academies, there was little attention given to the terms of linguistics, criticism and rhetoric because these
academies, since their beginnings, were more concerned with following up the scientific progress in the west and setting
up the scientific terms in different fields of knowledge. Perhaps the attention of these academics to civilization terminology
was wider because of its relevance to people’s lives. Thus, the negligence of criticism terms may be related to:
(1) There are a lot of terms about Arabic criticism, thus writers and researchers can use the old ones;
(2) Literary criticism does not have as much effect on language and its trends as modern sciences’ terms. Therefore,
there was no objection to the foreign or Arabicized terms as long as they are few;
(3) Writers and authors have begun creating criticism terms for a long time. They also agreed on most of them. So,
these terms were commonly used;
(4) Criticism is not related to scientific advancement that the world witnesses. Contemporary life imposes scientific
interests. This trend has led to neglecting humanities most of the time. (Matloub, 2002, pp. 13-14)
Comment and Critique

It seems that these explanations are valid to some extent. However, they are not based on scientific
evidence or empirical research. First, how can we judge that literary criticism does not affect language and its
trends as much as modern sciences and their trends? How can one claim that old terms spare us the need to
pursue new ones? Aren’t creative contexts and constant changes in the literature theory able to create a critical
debate that is capable of creating new terms in a language? Was the agreement on criticism terms since an early
age the standard and anything else exceptional or irregular?

In addition to all these inquiries, the interest that was referred to in the scientific and technical fields and
their terms was not as needed. As a piece of evidence, we are living in the 21th century. However, we are still
suffering from,
Double term gap, a gap in the term generating tools represented in our inability to pursue the accelerating demand for
the term, since thousands of terms are added every day. There is also a gap in finding unified terms among Arab countries.
(Ali & Hijazi, 2005, p. 351)
Naturally, this increases the difficulty of the mission that scholars of criticism terms undertake since they
encounter more challenges. On the top of these challenges comes the connection of the term to scientific
research since it is an integral part of it. This, in fact, takes us to rethink about the special problems that
Al-Masadi dubbed “quality channels”. These channels are associated with the knowledge field that the term
belongs to since there is no chance that the search in the term breaks apart from the search in the same field.
Therefore, the field’s problems certainly affect its terminology. Al-Masadi (1994) pinpoints that,
Despite the common factors between all knowledge fields that control the subject of generating terms which refer to
the precise concepts inside a certain language, every single art or field of knowledge has its peculiarities that
unsurprisingly provide the linguistic traditions with a lot of marking terms that differentiate a field from the others. (p. 10)
Controllable Approach
Regarding the manuscripts that were entirely dedicated for criticism terms and their issues—though
few—they represent what could be called a structure for establishing lexicological criticism terms. It is hoped
that such a structure transfers the criticism terms from chaos to order and institutionalization either through
works that represent opinions and theoretical approaches in the context of terminological research, or through
works in lexicology and its various applications. This may include the study of criticism term of a particular
author, or in a particular environment. The university institution, no doubt, has an important role in conducting
such pieces of research such as scientific theses in graduate studies.
It is obvious that the individual terminological studies for criticism terms, which appeared in academic
context about figures of our rhetorical and critical heritage, such as “Al-Jaheth”, “Ibn Al-Mo’taz”, “Ibn
Qutaibah”, “Ibn Tabaatba”, “Abdul-Qaher Al-Jurjani”, “Al-Qurtajni”, “Al-Sajlamasi”, and others, was the right
start. We followed this approach indeed, because it is characterized with personal diligence and instinctive
tendencies. It is evident that the end of those scholars’ work has led to opening the door for studies and research
papers which we need most. Perhaps, academics at some of the Arab universities are the first who broke
through this field since they advise the graduate students to write in the criticism terms adopted by a critic or a
group of critics and linguists. Thus, a library of criticism terms has started to appear. Some of the well-known
works in this filed are:
(1) Criticism and Aesthetic Concepts in the Literature of “Al-Jahez”, Michaele Assi, 1974;
(2) Criticism Terms and Rhetorical in Al-Jahez’s Book “Al-Bayan wa Al-Tabyeen” (clarification and
explanation) by Al-Shahid Al-Boushikhi, 1977;
(3) Criticism Terms in “Naqd Al-shaer” (poetry criticism) book by Idrees Al-Naqouri, 1982;
(4) Rhetoric Term in “M’ahed Al-Tansees Ala Shawahed Al-Talkhees” (quotation norms on
summarization) by Abdul-Rahman Al-Abbasi (963 H), Mohammed Khalil Al-khalayleh, 2006.
There were also other academic theses that were not published such as:

(1) Rhetoric terms in “Al Sina’atain” (The two industries (writing prose and poetry)) book, Abdul Kareem
Bakheet, Yarmook University, 1988;
(2) Criticism Terms of Hazem Al Qirtajni: A Dictionary, Interpretation, Resources and Problems, Abbas
Abdul-Haleem Abbas, Al-Yarmook University, 1991;
(3) Rhetorical Terms in Ibn Rasheeq Al-Qerawani’s “Al-Omda” (The Argument in Syntactic), by
Mohammad Al-Khalayleh, The University of Jordan, 1993;
(4) Criticism and Rhetoric Terms of “Abi Ali Al Hatimi”, by Badie Al-Azzaam, Mu’ta University, 1994.
Two Methodologies
When speaking about the methodology in studying criticism terms, it appears that the Historical and
Descriptive methodologies take over in this kind of studies. In fact, Al-Boushikhi restricts the methodologies
that researchers of the term used only to those two approaches.
According to Al-Boushikhi (1988, p. 24), the Historical Approach was invented by the Iraqi school
represented by three books: Rhetorical Terms, The Lexicology of Rhetoric Terms and Its Development, and
Criticism Terms: Roots and Development up to the End of the Seventh Century AH. These books appeared to
trace the developments of some term in rhetoric and criticism.
The main objection to this approach lies in the inability of some individuals to trace the emergence of a
term and its development over time.
There is no doubt that this goal is very correct and authentic. Who does not like to have the etymology of terms of
rhetoric and criticism, and other fields? Who does not dream about the etymological dictionary of criticism terms and
terms of other fields? However, the main question is who can really accomplish that? Is it scientifically and
methodologically acceptable to start such a project? (Al-Boushikhi, 1988, p. 24)
From a methodological point of view, monitoring the developments of any term requires tracking the
stages of the term in every single step of its life.
Scientifically, those studies and that monitoring of the stages will not have the scientific results unless it
meets the conditions of scientific method. On the top of that comes the full understanding of the subject. The
historical methodology of studying terms is very important if it meets its conditions and requirements.
Otherwise, its results are scientifically and methodologically invalid (ibid., p. 24). Although the previous
argument is largely true, we have been looking forward to having an etymological dictionary for terms of
criticism as much as we longed for an etymological dictionary for Arabic. However, there is an obvious
difference between an etymology of the language and an etymology of the criticism terms. It is likely that
criticism terms would be easier since they are spatially and temporally restricted. In addition, using a statistical
approach would be easier after obtaining an etymological one.
The second approach which Al-Boushikhi referred to is the descriptive one that is represented by—more
or less—three books: Qudamah bin Ja’far’s naqd al shi’er (Poetry Criticism) which contained vocabulary of
rhetoric and literally criticism, criticism and aesthetic concepts in the literature of “Al-Jaheth”, rhetorical and
criticism terms in Al-Jaheth’s Al-Bayan wa Al-Tabyeen (Rhetoric and Explanation).
The scientific need which these books came to fill is the definition of semantic terms for criticism and
rhetoric terms in a particular book, or of a particular writer. It would be beneficial if this complies with the
following conditions:
(1) Counting all texts in which terms were included in a book or textbooks occurred;

(2) Studying terms in lexical dictionaries and term dictionaries to pave the way to term philology
appreciation;
(3) Studying terms of the materials in the counted texts in order to classify each material depending on
how terms are used. The results are classified based on the meanings of each term if there is more than one;
(4) Presenting the results in the form of a terminological study that takes into consideration the mentioning
of the characteristics of the term such as the features and adjectives...as well as mentioning the correlations
between the term and other terms, and showing similarities.
Al-Boushikhi believes that “The adoption of this descriptive approach at this level of studying terms is
some sort of rationality. Nevertheless, during application it needs a considerable level of control and integrity
so that its results would be reliable” (ibid., pp. 25-26) because the description deals with the reality of the
existent terms on one hand, and in line with the synchronic approach in studying the linguistic phenomenon on
the other hand. Such approach examines the language internally depending on the inputs of the philological
approach. Al-Boushikhi did not mention the intersections and overlaps of this approach whether these overlaps
were with the historical or descriptive methodology since the philological approach looks into in “the
vocabulary problems in terms of their meanings, originality, features, synonymous, coinage and
non-morphological derivations” (Ya’coub & ‘Assi, 1987, p. 953).
This way helps a lot in the study of the terms which embody specific intellectual articles in a certain
scientific and technical era. For example, we find Idrees Al Naqouri’s Criticism Terms Used in Poetry Critique,
which Al-Boushikhi classified as belonging to the descriptive approach, addresses the “prosody” term merely
descriptively. However, this term gets into many problems that cannot be ignored such as mixing between the
linguistic meaning and the terminological meaning between that critics and narrators used. For instance,
Al-Asma’e used the word “prosody” in its linguistic meaning, while Ibn Al-Mo’taz used it in its terminological
meaning. Unfortunately, this difference did not attract Al-Naqouri’s attention who was especially concerned
with terminology. In addition, Al-Naqouri does not miss a chance in tracing the occurrence of the term in all
texts of those who came before him. Accordingly, Al-Naqouri’s is no doubt is a piece of historic research.
Necessity for Terminology

If this were the concern of applied publications which addressed the term from a lexicological standpoint,
then what concerns those who are interested in the theoretical aspects? The library’s indices point out to a
limited number of these works on one side, and to their contemporariness on the other side. This, in turn, leads
us to say that application in this field preceded the theory. Although terminology is defined as “a field study to
dub the concepts that belong to specialized fields in human activity of social activity in terms of their social
functions” (ibid.). On the one hand, terminology includes formalizing a theory and methodology to study
groups of terms and their development, and on the other hand, it includes gathering terminological information
and sorting them out. It also entails putting this information into criteria when necessary whether that
information was monolingual or multilingual.
If we look at the purposes, functions, and research methods of this science, we can determine its nature
and identity. The major three goals of terminology—as clarified in its definition—are:
(1) Formulating the principles that govern creating new terms;
(2) Unifying the existent terms and setting criteria for them;
(3) Documenting the terms and publishing them in a specialized dictionary (Al-Qasimi, 1988, p. 85).

It can be said that these books which addressed the theory of the term in “literary criticism” are limited. In
addition, they are more concerned with the term outside the lexicological framework to a great extent. Here are
some of the most prominent books:
(1) Al-Shahid Al-Boushikhi (1993), Arabic Criticism Terms for Islamic and Pre-Islamic Poets, Issues and
Models;
(2) Abdul-Salam Al-Masadi (1994), Criticism Terms. Tunisia: Abdul Karim bin Abdullah Publishers;
(3) Ahmad Matloub (2002), About criticism terms. Baghdad: Al-Majma’ al-elmi’ Scientific Academy;
(4) Ezzat Ali Jad (2002), Theory of the Criticism Term. Cairo: Al-hay’a al-masrya al-ammah li-l-kitab
(The Egyptian General Authority for Books).
The issues raised by the authors of these works express the desire to establish a dictionary of terms
according to scientific methodologies. Perhaps the awareness of lexical dimensions of terminological issues
was confined to two: Al Boushikhi classified the book Arabian Criticism Terms of Pre-Islamic and Islamic
Poets: Issues and Models into two volumes. He dedicated the first to studying the problem of methodology
observed in the study of the Old Arabian Criticism, and issues related to this general term such as its nature,
origin, criteria for creating it and its development mechanism. The second volume was a dictionary of the
criticism terms used by the pre-Islamic and Islamic poets. This was done on the basis of historic and descriptive
methodology whose features and importance were presented and explained by the author himself. This is an
essential step which became a landmark in the terminological labor draft that of literary criticism. This draft,
however, did not often give attention to the methodology. In best cases, when it paid attention to the
methodology, that happened either covertly or lately. Unfortunately, this affected Arab studies in different
knowledge fields. Abdul Aziz (2000) comments that,
Arab scientists used to follow a methodology based on controlled scientific bases. However, it took a long time to
settle and develop just as other sciences and their terms. The methodology used in all fields of science was observed to
varying degrees, and scientists used it consciously at a certain point, but they rarely declare it. Nevertheless, in the era of
science prosperity, especially when logic was studied in-depth, they paid much attention to the methodology of creating
terms, declared and detailed it. (p. 10)
No doubt that the widespread of knowledge and cultural openness that the literary criticism and its topics
and terms have witnessed drove researchers to uncover the methodologies they used to deal with the terms and
study them inside and outside the dictionary. This was, in fact, the scientific attempt that Al-Boushikhi has
accomplished in this matter.
Ahmad Matloub is one of the scientists of the term who is concerned about building term dictionaries. His
(2002) book Fi Al-MuSTalah Al-naqdi (About Criticism Terms) was a scientific of writing term dictionaries. In
it, he followed traditional methods most of the time. In addition, he tackled a wide range—spatially and
temporally—for a number of criticism and rhetorical terms issues that appeared in specialized papers. To some
extent, Matloub was trying to approach new terminological issues. He addressed some proposals of the pending
translation problems that are related to the term, and some linguistic overlaps in the same frame.4
If Al-Boushikhi has put the terminological research on the scientific track through realizing which
methodology to follow when teaching the term, Ahmad Matloub’s achievement in About Criticism Terms came
in the same context of awareness and importance. First, he raised the criticism terms problem and addressed
4
Matloub collected most of these articles in a book Research Papers in the Term and published it in 2006.

their aspects since this problem exists in every terminological venue in the different fields of science. Second,
Matloub was also aware of the necessity to create a terminology dictionary which organizes literary criticism
terms and represents a holistic reference for them. For instance, in a chapter titled “Towards a Dictionary of the
New Criticism Terms”, the student finds that what Matloub addressed in this chapter was not intended to go
deep in the current terms of the literary criticism. Rather, he opted for describing old and new dictionaries. He,
then, descriptively went over a number of the terms dictionaries that are used nowadays:
(1) Nasser Al-Nani (1955), The Term in Western Literature;
(2) Majdi Wahbeh (1974), Dictionary of Literary Terms;
(3) Hammadi Sammoud (1977), Dictionary of Modern Criticism Terms;
(4) Abdul Wahid Lu’lu’ah (1978), Encyclopedia of Criticism Terms;
(5) Jabour Abdul-Nour (1979), The Literary Dictionary;
(6) Majdi, Heba and Kamel Al-Mohandes (1979), The Dictionary of Arabian Terms in Language and
Literature;
(7) Sa’eed Alloush (1984), The Dictionary of Contemporary Literary Terms.
Ahmed Matloub’s analysis was characterized by brevity: It is an attempt to touch on some of the features
of the methodology followed in each of these dictionaries accompanied by one or two examples for
clarification.
Despite the importance of awareness raised by Matloub in making “the dictionaries of the criticism terms”
a case of discussion, the analytical effort that he put in addressing “terms lexicology”, was not deep enough to
uncover the ultimate philosophy which the terminological study was based on according to the input of
terminology. Nevertheless, we admit that Matloub is indeed a well-experienced scholar in the term
lexicological field. He is the author of two well-known dictionaries: The Dictionary of Rhetoric Terms and
Their Evolution (3 volumes) and The Dictionary of Old Criticism (2 volumes).
Matloub’s methodology in “Towards a Contemporary Criticism Terms Dictionary” was characterized by:
personal analysis, following the traditional methodology that lacks basics of Terminology, not following the
procedures of the special and general theories for this science nor the contributions of contemporary linguistics,
as well as the negligence of the essential resources for this type of studies. Nonetheless, Matloub tried hard to
determine a set of tools, means, and work references that need to be followed to createareliable criticism terms
dictionary. Before examining these means, let’s just go over them (taken from Matloub, 2002, pp. 299-304).
(1) Tracking the Arabic criticism terms and discussing their significance and change over time whether
they were terms for poetry or prose, old or new. These terms were created through different mechanisms such
as derivation, metaphor, patterning, translation, creation, and even through Arabicization. As for blending,
Arabic does not tend to use. The tracking process, of course, is done through surveying our Arabic literary,
religious and philosophical heritage;
(2) Listing most important literature and criticism books and extract criticism terms that have been used in
the 20th century in order to agree on the terms that accurately give the new meanings;
(3) Listing the most important literary terms and modern contemporary criticism books;
(4) Listing the most important philosophical, psychological, sociological and arts books and extract terms
that are related to or can be a basis for literally criticism;
(5) Listing the most important linguistic books;
(6) Listing the most important translated literature, criticism, and linguistic books;

(7) Taking a look at some foreign literature and criticism encyclopedias in their original languages;
(8) Utilizing some foreign language dictionaries to determine the relationship between the linguistic and
idiomatic meaning and the way of senses transference;
(9) Agreeing on the terms after studying them thoroughly and before widely spreading them. In addition,
the experienced members of language councils need to ignore the obsolete terms that do not meet any need;
(10) Classifying terms according to their letters to ease finding them since this is the way followed in
terms dictionaries;
(11) Defining the terms linguistically and idiomatically accompanied by showing the difference between
schools and providing a foreign equivalent or more;
(12) Revising the terms by a dedicated scientific committee and continuously adding new terms and
modifying old ones when needed.
Conclusion and Prospective Research

All these steps are needed when writing terms dictionary not only for literary criticism, but also for any
field of study. Nevertheless, most of these steps are, more or less, general information and common instructions
that look like final recommendations for many symposiums and conferences, rather than suggesting a structure
for linguistic basis and technical lexicography that serve as a step for writing dictionary of literary criticism
terms. Such a structure enables the researcher to approach the efforts of specialists in the field of building the
term who are concerned with the lexicological constraints in terms of phonology, morphology, syntax, and
semantics. The researcher can, then, raise questions related to specialized knowledgeable and address the
measures to give the terminological and lexicological meaning of that field’s terms. This will enable us to find
out his point of view with respect to “schools of the term” and which one we can depend on in our term work,
whether theoretical or methodological? The search in any direction of the term theories “special or general”
will push us forwards achieving such a dictionary.5
It is necessary to discuss possible ways to arrange the dictionary entries. Although Matloub mentioned the
“alphabetical way” in the tenth step, he did not provide any justification for that except that it is “the method
adopted in term dictionaries”. In fact, this point lacks precision and desperately needs to be detailed.
Perhaps the efforts of the lexicologists in this issue were mainly concerned with arranging entries in a
dictionary.6 The dictionary is not merely a list of words; rather it is a system of relations and senses. Therefore,
if the dictionary’s vocabulary were addressed in an ill-manner, we will break the cohesion and coherence
between the elements of this system, and lose the deeply rooted relations in it. For instance, how would a reader
understand the relationship between a line and a poem, a structure and a system, narrate and anecdote, and
many others. This, in turn, indicates that “the adopted alphabetical order of the terms in general language
dictionaries does not suit the language unusual glossaries; because the alphabetical order of the terms
dissociates the intellectual and verbal structures of a thematic field” (Al-Qasimi, 1988, p. 84).
5
Notably, there are three approaches that looked into the general and special theory of terminology: the objective approach, the
philosophical approach, and the linguistic approach. The former assures the importance of the nature of concepts, their qualities,
make-up, definitions, and the relations between them. Proponents of the philosophical approach stress the importance of
classifying the concepts from a philosophical standpoint. The linguistic approach sees terms as part of the language utterances.
Therefore, the study of terms require lexical, morphological, and phonological tools (see also Al-Qasimi, 1988, pp. 84-85).
6
For more details, the reader is referred to Al-Qasimi (1983, pp. 20-51).

No doubt, we are facing many other problems here. There is no chance to ignore them in any scientific
study for a specialized dictionary for literary criticism terms. The most recent problems are related to the
interference between “literary criticism” and other fields of knowledge, literature’s relation with and other arts
as well as the interrelated problems between the literature genres. Thus, how can we agree on a reliable
standard for criticism terms that can be trusted for the adoption, description, and documentation of the term?
References
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Issue), 2, 161-168.
Matloub, A. (2006). About criticism terms. Bagdad: Scientific Academy.
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Sama’neh, J. (2000). The structure of the term: Theoretical nature and applied patterns. In A symposium on issues in structuring
“The Term” in literature and humanities. Meknas: Mawla Ismail University.
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doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.002
D DAVID PUBLISHING
On the Nonce Variant of English Idioms∗
WANG Chao-fan, MENG Fan-mao

Linyi University, Linyi, China
English idiom variant refers to the form of idiom created by means of altering some original components, structures,
or meanings of the former idioms. The nonce variant of English idioms can be analyzed from the following four
aspects: reasons for formation of nonce variant, types into which it could be divided, motivations of nonce variant,
and rhetorical functions it is capable of producing. Through the analysis of these four aspects, it is almost likely for
language-users to realize the importance and modes of idiom’s renovation and get a better understanding of English
idioms, thus utilize English idioms more skillfully.
Keywords: English idiom, nonce variant, form and meaning, modes of renovation
Introduction
As an essential component in English lexicon, English idioms are set phrases or short sentences abstracted
from English in the long-term process of the language development. There are two most obvious characteristics
of idioms. One is semantic unity, which connotes that idiom is an inseparable semantic unity. Usually an idiom’s
meaning could not be inferred from each part. The other one is structural stability. That is, the arrangement and
collocation of an idiom are fixed. Sentence structures are not flexible.
The viewpoint of its semantic unity and structural unity has played a dominant role in the researches of
English idioms. Till the 1950s, Chomsky proposed the transformational-generative grammar, under which a
linguist Fraser (1970) went to develop the transformational potential of idioms. In ODCIE compiled by English
scholars, Cowie and Mackin (1975) confirmed the existence of one-off variation. They held that English idiom’s
stability in structure and overall meaning is not so absolute. That is, idioms can be varied in specific contexts.
Furthermore, we can also find out a great deal of idiom variations in the process of using English.
English idiom variant refers to the form of idiom created by means of altering some original components,
structures, or meanings of the former idioms. As far as the types of idiom variant are concerned, two broad types
of variation are classified: normal variant and nonce variant. Normal variant refers to the institutionalized
variation, which aims at producing correct forms of idioms. Nonce variant refers to the temporary manipulation
or exploitation of idioms, which may change an idiom’s form and meaning (ZHANG, 1980).
The nonce variant of English idioms can be analyzed from the following four aspects: reasons for formation
of nonce variant, types into which it could be divided, motivations of nonce variant, and rhetorical functions it is
∗
Acknowledgements: This article is sponsored by the program “The Acquisition of High School English Learners Studying
English Attributive Clauses”.
WANG Chao-fan, Class 3, Grade 2011, School of Foreign Languages, Linyi University.
MENG Fan-mao, professor, master, School of Foreign Languages, Linyi University.
ON THE NONCE VARIANT OF ENGLISH IDIOMS 91
capable of producing. Through the analysis of these four aspects, it is almost likely for language-users to realize
the importance and modes of idiom’s renovation, and get a better understanding of English idioms, thus utilize
English idioms more skillfully.
Reasons for the Formation of Nonce Variant

A Special Feature of Language—Creativity
The creativity of language, endowing English idioms with potential for development, refers to the potential
possibility that language holds to create endless sentences (WANG, 2007).
Idioms, whose structures are fixed relatively, can be divided, deleted, reconstructed, etc. New forms of
expression are produced; more appropriate sentences appear for temporary uses. For example:
Example (1) Modern journalism justifies its own existence by the great Darwinian principle of “the survival
of the vulgarest” (JU, 2004, p. 39).
Example (2) While marrying the girl he “married a bit more than he could chew” (XU, 2006, p. 89).
In the first example, “the survival of the vulgarest” is the nonce variant of an idiom “the survival of the
fittest”. The structures are of the same, but the meanings are different owing to the transformation of one word:
“fittest” to “vulgarest”. In the second example, the original form of “married a bit more than he could chew” is
“the bit off a bit more than one could chew”. The word has been changed, but the meaning becomes fitter for the
context.
Association Between Language and Society
As a part of social culture, language finds its expression in the renewing of existing forms of language for
development. Idioms complicated in meaning have been knocked out in the use of language. In the process of
using idioms, people enrich the connotation and border of idioms continuously, both endowing idioms with vigor,
and augmenting the ability in expressing idioms by innovating the existing idioms.
Economic Principle and Other Circumstances Confining Language
To describe the present situation, or to express one’s emotion, or to communicate with each other, people
usually tend to use the simplest words and sentences. So idioms are always considered as the first choice.
However, it is always impossible to use the formulaic idioms directly due to the limitation of place, topic,
background knowledge, purpose, and method of communication in concrete occasions. To make some changes
confirming to specific communicative circumstances will achieve twice the result with half the effort, which can
express one’s emotion or ideas appropriately by arousing people’s memory of original idioms. For example:
Example (3) One non-linguistic explanation of failure at school is that “you can take a child to Euclid but
you can’t make him think” (JU, 2004, p. 39).
In this sentence, “you can take a child to Euclid but you can’t make him think” is the nonce variant of “you
can take a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink”.
Corresponding to the context of school education, this sentence not only enables people to realize the
similarity between school education and “making him think”, but also highlights vividly the failure in school
education in some places.
92 ON THE NONCE VARIANT OF ENGLISH IDIOMS
Three Major Types of Nonce Variants

Reversion
Reversion denotes the original metaphor in the idiom is reversed or inverted so as to create humorous effect.
It is often used to create their own creative expressions. Examples are as follows:
Example (4) He turns out to be considerably less pessimistic than most writers whom we think of as
“serious”, for whom “every silver lining has a cloud” (HUA, 1998, p. 36).
Example (5) They were contacted personally by telephone at their home by the New Zealand police minister,
who promised “no stone would be left unturned” in the hunt for the killer (HUA, 1998, p. 36).
In these two examples, the metaphors in the original idioms “every cloud has a silver lining” and “leave no
stone unturned” are reversed, resulting in the change in the meanings of the idioms. In the meantime, humor is
created to catch the readers’ attention and appeal to their interest.
Substitution
Substitution refers to substituting or changing one or more of the components of an idiom for stylistic effect.
Let’s look at the following examples:
Example (6) We thought our “cat” would be killed when he fell from the roof of the house. He was not, but
he used up one of “his lives” (LUO, 2011, p. 15).
Example (7) He intended to take an opportunity this afternoon of speaking to Irene. “A word in time saves
nine” (DUAN, 2001, p. 74).
Example (8) “Yes, you must take everything,” said Magdalen. “I’ll pay for the taxi if you like”. Now she
was “as cool as a lettuce” (HUA, 1998, p. 37).
In these three examples, there are three idioms that are manipulated: “a cat has nine lives”, “a stitch in time
saves nine”, and “as cool as a cucumber”. In all these instances, only an attempt has come into existence so as to
make it more accurately proper to a specific situation by using suitable replacement; there is no change in
meaning.
Modification
The modification of idioms is another common form of nonce variation, in which some adjectives,
intensifiers, or evaluative and relative clauses are put in. This paper claims three kinds of treatment: semantically
external modification, semantically internal modification, and conjunction modification. For semantically
external modification, it is to indicate author’s viewpoint by modification. For instances:
Example (9) Mrs. Thatcher “came a political cropper” over Europe (Nicolas, 1995, p. 331).
Example (10) In the fifties, several big stars were “in the studio doghouses” because of their political
affiliations (ZHANG, 2013, p. 198).
In example (9), the adjective “political” modifies the idiom “come a cropper” as a whole, not just the noun.
It can be interpreted as “from a political point of view”. In example (10), “studio” can be interpreted as “from the
studio”.
For the semantically internal treatment, it is to strengthen or diversify the literally lexical level, but it is
thoroughly accountable at the metaphorical level, as in:
Example (11) Many people were anxious to “jump on the horse-drawn Reagan bandwagon” (Everaert,
Linden, Schenk, & Schreuder, 1995, p. 296).
Example (12) It is very simple for those academics to look out of their “carpeted ivory towers” across the
marsh of business depression (SHI, 2007, p. 41).
In these two examples, the inserted adjectives (horse-drawn and carpeted) are used to invigorate the
metaphorical images of the original idioms. They either coordinate with the surface lexis or the meaning of the
idioms.
Conjunction modification also changes the literally lexical level, but it cannot be undeviatingly construed at
the metaphorical level, unless it is done for its pragmatic or stylistic effect. Examples are as follows:
Example (13) Bruce, a shark, found it a part he could really “sink his three rows of teeth into” (Everaert,
Linden, Schenk, & Schreuder, 1995, p. 487).
Example (14) The fit of shame we feel at the end for having had such fun “pulling his cross-gartered leg for
so long” (MU, 2000, p. 38).
In example (13), “the shark’s three rows of teeth” are literal. The idiom “sink one’s teeth into something” is
irrelevant to the shark’s teeth either literally or metaphorically, so the two parts of the expression are explained
individually as a combination. So is the case with example (14).
Distribution
On some occasions, an idiom can be segregated so that the component parts occur in two clauses. That is to
dispense one idiom in different clauses. Examples are as follows:
Example (15) They are all snobs, even Julie who’s only ten years old. You never saw such “airs” as that
child “gives herself” (Clarence & Robert, 1981, p. 147).
Example (16) I’ll acknowledge that my will is “iron”, but if you marry me I promise you that you’ll never
feel anything but “the velvet glove” (LUO, 2011, p. 42).
In these two examples, the original idioms are separated by distribution. The two original idioms which are
allotted two clauses respectively are “give oneself airs” and “an iron hand in the velvet glove”.
Conjunction of Different Idioms
Combining two different idioms into one particular usage also can be found in authentic language materials.
It is logically more suitable to the particular context as in the following two cases.
Example (17) But it is hard to overstate the damage done by Mr. Clinton’s unwillingness to acknowledge
“not all foreign-policy purposes are born equal” (The Economist, 1993, p. 343).
Example (18) “A Mars a day keeps you work, rest and play” (An advertisement for Mars chocolate).
In example (17), we can find the resemblances of these two idioms: “not all that glitters is gold” and “all men
are created equal”. As a result, a thoroughly new expression is invented to conform to this particular context. In
the same way, in example (18), two idioms “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” and “All work and no play
makes Jack a dull boy” are combined to produce a new one to fabricate an impressive and engaging
advertisement.
Since the nonce variation of an idiom is based on the original idiom, there must be some inherent connection
between them. That is the motivation of these nonce usages of idioms.
Motivations of Nonce Variations

In the light of Hua (1998), motivations of nonce variations are classified into three kinds, which are semantic
motivation, grammatical motivation, and phonological motivation.
Semantic Motivation
According to Hua (1998), semantic motivation refers to the case in which an idiom deflects the original in
the light of its semantic meaning. This is a kind of mental association. In such a case, the two basic ways of
semantic motivation are analogy and paraphrase.
Analogy on the basis of synonymy. With the help of this kind of analogy, new variants are established
which have the same or similar meanings with the original idioms. An example is as follows:
Example (19) But could I? It was all “as clear as a mud-spattered windscreen” (Cowie & Mackin, 1975, p.
226).
In the example above, “as clear as a mud-spattered windscreen” is constructed out of the analogy with the
original “as clear as mud”. In spite of their different metaphorical images, their basic meanings are completely of
the same.
Analogy on the basis of oppositeness. The analogy on the basis of oppositeness selects one or more
components of the idiom or even the whole idiom as the standpoint of opposition and creates a variant, which has
an opposite meaning to the original. For example:
Example (20) I presume there have been worse planning decisions than Maplin Airport. There were several
in Augustan Rome who thought that the simple construction of piers into the sea constituted an offence to
Neptune which would surely be punished. Yet “Rome was not destroyed in a day” (Goldsworthy, 2009, p. 349).
Here, “Rome was not destroyed in a day” is made by analogy with the original form “Rome was not built in
a day” according to the opposition of the meaning.
Analogy on the basis of quantity. In reality, this kink of analogy generally chooses the figure or number in
the idiom as the point for analogy. Newly-invented phrases usually have no change in meaning. Let’s look at the
following example:
Example (21) “But what do you know about Brother Golding? I could tell you a thing or three”, he said. “We
were on the same Emergency Training what-have-you just after the War” (Golding, 1954).
The original idiom for “tell you a thing or three” is “tell someone a thing or two about something”. As a
matter of fact, “three” and “two” have no difference in meaning in this case.
Analogy on the basis of space. Just as the name suggests, the analogy based on space has the lexis
presenting the place and space as the point for analogy. Accordingly, new meaning is created. An example below
will illustrate this:
Example (22) There is the plain speaker who tells his direct superior that the business he is having with his
secretary is “the talk of the office” and that he had better be watchful (TV Times).
We can clearly see that, “the talk of the office” originates from the idiom “the talk of the town”, hence it is a
typical analogy on the basis of space.
Analogy on the basis of color. In English, there are a lot of idioms which contain words denoting colors.
Skillful language-users will make use of this. That is to say, they will make an analogy on the basis of color to
produce a complete new one. In such a case, the newly-made expression usually presents a completely different
meaning from the original. The following is such an example:
Example (23) It became windier and colder. It may be a good joke when a teacher says: “You’ve got the thin
blue line here all right” (DUAN, 2001, p. 73).
In the example above, “the thin blue line” is invented by emulating the original “the thin red line” with the
help of analogy. Originally, “the thin red line” indicates the courageous resistance to or fight against a great
number of enemies by only a small group of people, while “blue” in the created manner denotes the color of the
teachers’ hands and faces in cold and wind.
Paraphrase. Paraphrase literally means expressing the same message in different words. As for the
motivations of nonce variations, paraphrase is a way of using some other words to interpret the original idiom.
Such an example is shown below:
Example (24) When my husband was back from work, he told me that he was “as tired as a dog” (MIU, 2006,
p. 129).
In this example, “as tired as a dog” originates from the idiom “dog-tired”. As the case stands, this is a case of
paraphrasing the original idiom.
Grammatical Motivation
With regard to grammatical motivation, it is a method through which language-users coin variants by way of
grammatical change. In such cases, there are two common ways language-users usually use, which are
conversion and derivation. As is often the case, the two ways merely bring about the change in grammatical form,
but not the meaning. On a few occasions, however, both the grammatical form and the meaning of the
newly-invented idioms differ from the original.
Example (25) Vince Cable, the personnel manager is talking about new “hiring-firing” rules with his boss
(ZHU, 2006, p. 112).
Example (26) In those days, little Mary had a hard time of it. She would continually spend her life “hewing
wood and drawing water” (JU, 2004, p. 39).
In these two examples, “hiring-firing”, a compound adjective, is derived from the verb phrase “hire and fire”,
while “hewing wood and drawing water”, a participle phrase, is from the noun phrase “hewers of wood and
drawers of water”. There is no change in meaning, but differences occur in grammatical form.
Phonological Motivation
As far as phonological motivation is concerned, it denotes that the alteration is made according to the
pronunciation of a certain word in an idiom. The following are some examples:
Example (27) Hughie, who thinks nothing of sailing off on his own to Boulogne or even as “far afloat” as
Oslo, ran aground in the Thames Estuary (Cowie & Mackin, 1975, p. 232).
Example (28) And with his talent for coming vividly alive in any human company, he will no doubt go on
being popular. Whatever else he does he will surely “add to the gaiety of NATO” (LI, 2006, p. 65).
In example (27), “far afloat” is a variation from “far afield”. In example (28), “add to the gaiety of NATO” is
from “add to the gaiety of nations”. Both of them are invented according to the pronunciation of some words in
the idioms.
On some other occasions, the nonce variation of idioms may happen under the co-operation of several
motivations. The following example shows us that the semantic motivation and grammatical motivation work at
the same time:
Example (29) The lovers of power, the councilor, the footballer, the “treble-crossing” womanizer, and a
thousand others are all here (CHEN, 2006, p. 32).
In this example, “treble-crossing” originates from “a double cross”, which means “cheating by pretended
friendship”. With respect to the whole structure, it is different under grammatical motivation. Yet meanwhile,
“treble” is obtained from “double” in the light of analogy on the basis of quantity.
Rhetorical Effects
Nonce variant of English idioms appears frequently in daily communication, news English, and literary
works, etc. Every nonce variant reflects directly or indirectly everyday social life, corresponding to particular
contexts. As long as it is used properly, it will contrive powerful rhetorical effects. Two kinds of rhetorical effects
of nonce variant are shown in the following.
To Make the Sentence Vivid and Witty
Example (30) The motorist “glides on air”…but his speed undoes him (Kanfer, 1975, p. 65).
Example (31) “Where there is suffering, there is duty” (Bush, 2001).
In example (30), “glides on air” is manipulated from the original form “walk on air” (to be light-headed with
happiness or feel elated). “Glide” is substituted for the word “walk” in the sentence. The replacement of one word
makes the whole sentence more vivid and depicts lively the scene of the motorist who is beside himself with joy.
Example (31) is extracted from the inaugural speech of American president W. Bush. The original form is “where
there is will, there is a way or where there is life, and there is hope”.
To Make the Sentence Sarcastic and Humorous
Attention has been paid to lunchtime nourishment. But “the law moves in mysterious ways”, “its function to
perform”, and the only people who can be sure of a square meal are the judge, jury, and prisoner. The original
form of “the law moves in mysterious ways, its function to perform” is “God moves in mysterious ways, his
wonders to perform”. With enough wit and humor, the sentence satirizes sharply the law system of the society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the nonce variant of English idioms can be labeled as a special phenomenon. As a special
phenomenon in English idiom variant, the nonce variant refers to the operation or utilization of an idiom, during
which the form and/or meaning of the original idiom may be changed. It involves all the reformatory and
rule-breaking operations of idioms. And at the same time we must be clear that it occurs only in certain contexts.
In another way, English idiom variant, commonly seen in English, refers to the form of idiom created by means of
altering some original components, structures, or meanings of the former idioms.
It goes without saying that, the nonce variant of English idioms reflects not only the changes on modern
people’s thinking mode which motivate them to strive for changes, innovations, and practicality, but also the
constant changes and development of the society. And on many occasions, it is necessary to produce a nonce
variant so as to conform to the particular contexts. In this way, nonce variant not only reflects people’s state of
mind to seek novelty and difference, but also produces unique rhetorical effect together with sound
communicative effect. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis on the causes of nonce variant, its types, and its
function enables learners to be fully aware of the thinking modes and characteristics of idioms’ renewal, and to
comprehend the precise meanings and pragmatic functions of idiom variant. It is also significant in mastering and
comprehending the developing rules of language.
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doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.003
D DAVID PUBLISHING
The Effect of a Flipping Classroom on Writing Skill in English

as a Foreign Language and Students’ Attitude Towards Flipping
Mervat Abd Elfatah Ali Said Ahmed

Oklt Alsqoor College of Science and Arts, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia
This study aimed at investigating the effect of a flipping classroom on writing skill in English as a foreign language
and students’ attitude towards flipping. The study sample consisted of 60 students at Qassim University and was
divided into two groups: 30 students for the experimental group and 30 students for the control group. The
instruments of the study are an EFL writing test and a questionnaire to measure students’ attitude towards flipping.
Students in both the experimental and the control group were pre-tested using the EFL (English as a Foreign
Language) writing test. Then, the questionnaire was pre applied for the experimental group only before the
experiment. After that the experimental group was taught using flipping while the control group was taught using
the traditional method. Finally, students in both groups were post-tested using the EFL writing test while the
questionnaire was post applied for the experimental group only. Results of the study showed that the experimental
group outperformed the control group in the post-test of EFL writing. Second, there was statistically significant
difference between the mean scores of the pre and post application of the questionnaire of the experimental group
in favor of the post application. This difference can be attributed to using flipping.
Keywords: flipping classroom, writing skill, English as a foreign language, students’ attitudes
Introduction
Writing is a complex skill. Students in English as a foreign language context will need English writing
skills ranging from a simple paragraph and summary skills to the ability to write essays and professional
articles. As students enter the workforce, they will be asked to convey ideas and information in a clear manner.
If students’ writing skill is developed, it will allow the students to graduate with a skill that will benefit for life
(Albert-Margan, Hessler, & Konrad, 2007). In fact, good EFL writing, as Lee (2003) states, is a key concern for
teachers, researchers, textbook writers, and program designers in the domain of foreign language teaching.
It has been found that writing is one of the most difficult language skills to master (Kurk & Atay, 2007).
Alsamadani (2010) indicated that writing is a challenging and difficult process as it includes multiple skills
such as identification of the thesis statement, writing supporting details, reviewing, and editing (p. 55). In the
same way, Abu-Rass (2001) added that writing is a difficult skill for native and nonnative speakers alike as
students should make balance between multiple issues such as content, organization, purpose, audience,
vocabulary, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics.
To overcome the difficulties of writing, flipping would be used in this study. Many researchers in the field
of English language teaching try to make learning student-centered instead of teacher-centered learning.
Mervat Abd Elfatah Ali Said Ahmed, assistant professor, Ph.D., Oklt Alsqoor College of Science and Arts, Qassim University.

THE EFFECT OF A FLIPPING CLASSROOM ON WRITING SKILL 99
English language teachers have a duty to help students to obtain the skills that they need to flourish in this
environment. Student-centered classrooms that value communication (through communicative language
teaching) and incorporate Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL), pair and group work,
decision-making opportunities, and independent learning are necessary if students are to obtain the skills that
they need to survive professionally.
Student-centered learning environment is a suitable environment for reinforcing social and virtual mobility
in terms of both physical and hyper-real contexts; a school or a classroom is not the only place for students to
learn something. Accordingly, today’s English practitioners ought to take into account learner’s meaningful
engagement both inside and outside the classroom to achieve good learning outcomes by creating more
learner-centered environment (Brown, 2007). In order to make the educational environment of student-centered,
some researches advocate flipping teaching in which the student self-studies lesson contents at home through
videos, pods, books, website, or blogs while class hours are used to do the homework or assignments to
reinforce his or her understanding of important concepts or knowledge (Bretzmann, 2013). Such a reverse
format of teaching and learning is known to be initiated, thus, made popular by Bergmann and Sams, who
taught chemistry classes at one of the high schools in the US in 2007 (Flipped Learning Network, 2013).
The flipping classroom meets the needs of students of the 21st century by allowing students to hone the
4Cs: Students can use critical thinking and problem solving as they tackle the group projects and presentations
assigned to them; they can communicate and collaborate during the pair and group work that they undertake in
class; and they can be creative and innovative when using technology through the new software and websites
that the teacher introduces for independent learning activities assigned both in and out of the classroom.
Students complete homework assignments by further investigating issues by themselves, encouraging
autonomy and giving them responsibility for their own learning—a skill that they will need after graduation
from university as they move into their careers (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; Hughes, 2012).
Flipping the classroom involves much more than adding technology and out-of-class video activities to the
lessons; it requires both teachers and students to “flip” the way they fundamentally view education. Trends in
Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) have continually been moving towards improving students’
oral and written language abilities—shifting away from translation and moving towards delivering vast
amounts of “comprehensible input”, to finally making language classrooms more communicative with
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and Technology
Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) are 21st century educational techniques used to improve language
learning, involving students in authentic tasks that they use in their daily lives. Teachers have to thus equip
themselves with various computer skills in order to stay updated in the field of English Language Teaching
(ELT) and to meet the needs of today’s generation of learners. The flipped model of learning takes CALL and
TELL one step further—shifting the physical location of the classroom to anywhere an Internet or Wi-Fi
connection exists, be it a café, a library, a bus, or even a beach. The flipped model thus alters the concept of the
walled classroom and creates a boundless classroom—an idea which is in line with 21st century learning
(ATC21S, 2012) and which mixes constructivist theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) with
behaviorist principles of teaching and learning.
Blended Learning, Constructivism, and Independent Learning

Blended Learning (BL) is a term that has been in use in the field of language learning for the past 20 years.

100 THE EFFECT OF A FLIPPING CLASSROOM ON WRITING SKILL
It is used to describe learning that combines online learning and face-to-face (F2F) interaction between learners
and instructors. To begin with, it is essential to draw a difference between BL and online learning. Online
Learning or e-learning also means distance learning, which necessitates Internet connectivity and Information
and Communication Technology Skills. Garrison and Anderson (2003) advocate blended learning as a powerful
asynchronous teaching strategy. Drawing on the work of Oliver and Trigwell (2005) define BL as “the
integrated combination of traditional learning with web-based online approaches”. Online learning material can
be delivered through educational technology tools involving synchronous and asynchronous mediums. Virtual
Learning Environments may be synchronous tools or what Alonso, Lopez, Manrique, and Vines (2005) call
“Live Learning”. They involve instant messaging, video conferencing, or discussions boards where learners
collaborate, asking for and sharing information, but are not quite autonomous in their learning. Asynchronous
tools however require more autonomy from learners who actively seek their learning. In BL, synchronous and
asynchronous tools may be combined or used separately depending on the designer’s choice.
An interesting discussion of BL is the one describing it as a combination of methodologies including the
constructivist, behaviorist, and cognitivist. In this definition, elements of the Present-Practice-Produce (PPP)
and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approaches are found to fit in a BL instructional program (Sharma,
2010). In a knowledge-based, technology driven society, learners are no longer considered the passive
recipients of information. Instead, they are more potentially enabled to progress, be more actively engaged,
motivated, autonomous, and independent. Learner autonomy is a term widely used to describe independent,
lifelong learning, which is an essential skill in the current and modern lifestyle.
Little (1995, 2000) and Green (2000) note that this ability is not innate; it must be acquired either through
“natural” means or through formal, systematic, and deliberate learning. The notion of learner autonomy was
introduced by the CRAPEL, the Centre de Recherches et d’Applications Pédagogiques en Langues at the
University of Nancy in France in the 1970s to refer to individualized and lifelong learning. Drawing on Nunan
(1999) and Zohrabi (2011), language learning is viewed as learner-centered where learners are helped “to gain
linguistic and communicative skills in order to carry out real-world tasks” (p. 34). A large body of research
indicates that through BL, learners are more reachable and instructors are able to address the different
individual’s learning needs. BL allows more individualization and differentiation of instruction as the learning
is more personalized, thus improving the adeptness of language learners. Learner autonomy is promoted
through BL where learning is “genuinely in the hands of the learner” (Smith, 2008, p. 50).
Research in the Flipped Classroom Instruction (FCI) Educational Practice

Brief History of FCI
In the past, initial steps of the learning process through direct instruction involved going over notes in a
book before class, but due to the advent and availability of technological tools for today’s learners, the “Digital
Natives”, as Prensky (2001) calls them, the learning material can be provided before class time through
intentional content in direct instruction. The Flipped Classroom Instruction is seen as an alternative to direct
instruction. In fact, the FCI can be traced back to 1995 when an instructor at Cedarville University noted that
learners should have the PowerPoint he was using in class available to them to view before class.
Perhaps two of the most prominent figures when talking about FCI are Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron
Sams. In 2007, both Bergman and Sams were faced with a dilemma of how to address needs of secondary
students in their science classes who were continuously absent from school, and so they decided to create

videos of their class lectures to deliver the instructional material to absent students. To their astonishment,
students who were not absent from class watched the videos, too, aiming to reinforce and review key concepts.
The Inverted Classroom, another term for Flipped Instruction, can be traced back to centuries when students in
business and law schools were given assignments to complete outside class in preparation of an in-class
discussion. The Flipped Classroom is, however, the term more commonly used currently in the K-12
communities (Talbert, 2012).
Principles of the FCI and Active Learning
The Flipped Classroom Instruction implies a reversal of the normal class set up and the switch between
class instruction and homework. What happens through a FCI approach is that students acquire the basic
information outside of class, constructing their learning, enjoying the freedom of researching online for further
learning. They “pause to reflect on what is being said, rewind to hear it again, listen to as much or as little of
the lecture as their schedules permit, and view the lecture on a mobile device rather than in a fixed location”
(Talbert, 2012, p. 101). Conversely, in class, students focus on internalizing the material with the help of their
peers and instructor who support their decisions while they are working on highly cognitive tasks which they
were expected to complete by themselves under “traditional” class teaching structure.
Flipping classroom instruction has many benefits: It allows differentiated instruction to help students
overcome language-learning obstacles. The FCI provides learners with opportunities to learn by doing since
their learning is more personalized. Flipping the classroom creates the potential for active, engaged,
student-centered learning, peer interactions, and personalized instruction (Pearson, 2013). By assigning the
videos to be watched as homework, the teacher aims to situate the content of the writing lesson in the learners’
world. Active learning is generally defined as one that engages students in the learning process, where learners
are actively and extensively involved in activities and are responsible for and have ownership over their
learning. Young learners are more likely to be motivated by their interest in an engaging task, which is in this
case, the instructional video. The video is likely to engage learners by involving all of their senses while
providing opportunities.
The principles of the FCI can be summarized as having a situation where “teachers shift direct learning out
of the large group learning space and move it into the individual learning space, with the help of one of several
technologies” (Pearson, 2013, p. 40). The used technologies seem perfectly consistent with Communicative
Language Teaching Methods since they emphasize learning by doing, which also solves the Task-Based
Language Teaching Approaches where learners respond to sets of tasks depending on their diverse abilities.
Previous Studies of Flipping in English as a Foreign Class
Sung (2015) looks into a flipped English content-based class where 12 participating college students were
enrolled and completed all the course requirements in an elective course. Before each class, the students were
guided to preview lesson materials such as readings and videos and to engage in diverse online activities on an
LMS flat form. Then, they did collaborative class activities such as sharing their Thought Papers, discussing the
questions on weekly readings developed online, and doing a final project of designing an evaluation plan. The
results of the analysis of both informal and formal course evaluations and student work showed that they
viewed flipped learning positively despite initial difficulties of adjusting themselves to it. They also viewed that
flipped teaching can be a good momentum for change in current English language teaching.

Webb, Doman, and Pusey (2014) conducted an experiment with intermediate level EFL classes at a
university in Macau, China. Data from observations and surveys revealed that initially the flipped model did
not match learner expectations of teacher roles in the classroom. However, at the end of the 15-week course,
students in the experimental classes requested additional flipped materials and appeared more comfortable with
the model. Additional findings from teaching journals uncovered that three out of the four teachers recommend
the flipped approach for promoting creativity and opportunities for higher order learning in the classroom. The
journals also indicated some skepticism among teachers in regards to applying the flipped concept to language
instruction and struggles with student engagement with the materials.
Engin (2014) describes a project that aimed to leverage the students’ interest and experience of technology
and multimodal environments to develop their academic writing skills and second language learning. Students
were expected to follow a model, research a topic, and craft a digital video tutorial on an aspect of academic
writing which would form part of the already established flipped classroom model. Feedback from students
suggests that there was tension between students as producers, and students as consumers. Student-created videos
promoted second language learning through research, simplification, explanation, and encouraged more focus
on form, and promoted accuracy in English. However, it was also noted that students prefer a teacher explanation
than a peer explanation and there were concerns over the “trustworthiness” of a peer produced video tutorial.
Mireille (2014) aims to examine the impact of using a Flipped Classroom Instructional Method on the
writing performance of the twelfth grade Emirati female students and identify female students’ perception of
the Flipped Instruction in an ESL writing setting. For this purpose, a 15-week teaching program was designed
to cover the main IELTS Tasks 1 and 2 writing objectives. The program consisted of instructional videos and
differentiated class tasks that were used with only one group of students while the other group studied the
teaching material in a similarly learner-centered class. Both groups completed a pretest and post-test to answer
the inquiry of the study. Findings revealed statistically significant differences between the mean scores in favor
of the students in the experimental group. This improvement in the writing performance is attributable to the
Flipped Instruction method of teaching. Students’ attitudes towards the Flipped Instruction proved to be equally
favorable.
Butt (2014) investigated the flipped classroom in his final-year actuarial course in Australia. By giving a
two-part questionnaire to his students, he found that students perceive that they learn the most from performing
an activity and that they prefer individual study over lectures, tutorials, and group study. By comparing students
attitudes at the beginning of the semester and then again at the end, Butt found that students who originally
viewed the flipped classroom unfavorably at the beginning of the course began to change the opinions about
this by the end of the class.
Baranovic (2013) examined the impact of flipping on his first-year composition course at a university in
the United States. By creating multimedia lecture videos, he eliminated the need for traditional lectures and
replaced these with creative writing-style workshops. To facilitate the workshop, his classroom became a
circular, communal space of socially constructed standards, encouraging a collaborative recursive writing
process and stimulating creative thinking in his students. Results showed that the course benefitted students of
all writing levels, in particular non-native English speakers. Students are invested heavily in the workshop and
in each others’ writing, and their writing exceeded the standards set by the university.
Wang and Zhang (2013) analyzed data gathered from four learners in their English for Educational
Technology class using triangulation based on questionnaires, interviews and observations, and found

significant improvements in their listening, translation and writing skills. They also found improvement in their
speaking, as measured by more active group discussion and participation in class in English and the
acquirement of more difficult vocabulary words.
Li (2013) also described her flipped classroom and painted a picture of her learners before and after the
flip, as the classroom changed from being teacher-centered to becoming more learner centered. She found that
the flip helped in many ways: by allowing the teacher to individualize instruction, allowing students more
opportunities to engage in the four skills, creating students who are more self-disciplined to study, making
students more active in class, not wasting students’ time on note-taking in class, and reducing teacher pressure
to create materials as they can share online. As a result, Li suggested that the flipped classroom be considered
as a viable teaching technique in China.
In conclusion, data from empirical studies is hardly available for the flipped classroom as of yet. The term
has become popular in educational circles, but is seems that few teachers have embraced the concept enough to
do empirical studies on the topic. Therefore, the current study offers an attempt to help fill the void in the
current lack of research into the flipped classroom, particularly the ESL/EFL flipped classroom.
Purpose of the Study

This study aimed at:
(1) Measuring the effect of flipping classroom on writing skill in English as a foreign language: ideas and
content, organization, voice, and style;
(2) Measuring students’ attitude towards flipping.
Questions of the Study

This current study attempted to answer the following questions:
(1) What is the effect of a flipping classroom on writing skills in English as a foreign language?
(2) Is there a significant difference between the pretest and the posttest scores on the development of the
four specific writing skills: ideas and content, organization, voice, and style?
(3) What is the effect of flipping on students’ attitude towards it?
To answer these questions, the mean scores of the experimental and the control group in an EFL pre and
post writing test and the questionnaire were compared using SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions)
version 20. In addition, the mean scores of the rubric were compared.
Limitations
The limitation was that the study was conducted with only one section of 60 female students who were
divided into 30 as an experimental group and 30 as a control group. Another additional boundary was the
running of the study in the second semester of 2015 in one university in Saudi Arabia with undergraduate
female students.
Methodology
Participants
The flipped classroom in this study is in a blended format, which means that the students were required to
do both online and offline learning activities each week. This study was conducted in the College of Science

and Arts in a female branch of Qassim University with a population of 1,200 students in Saudi Arabia. English
undergraduate students are studying writing skills in the eight levels of their study in the university. They
started at a basic writing level and move to writing a five-paragraph essay. The college uses high quality
writing textbooks from Oxford University Press.1 At the time of the study, there were three English Ph.D. and
M.A. holders comprising the college who taught writing in the college. In this quantitative, quasi-experimental
study, one English writing class (level four) was chosen randomly as an experimental group to write essays via
flipping for a period of three months. Another English writing class (level four) was chosen to be a control
group which study writing in a traditional way.
Instruments of the Study and Materials
An EFL writing test and a questionnaire to measure the students’ attitude towards flipping were designed
by the researcher (see Appendix A and B). The researcher designed a rubric to correct the EFL writing test and
students’ essays. Oklt Alsqoor College is considered as an ideal selection for the flipped environment as the
college’s infrastructure allows for online blended learning. The college is equipped with a Learning
Management System (LMS), “PLATO”, which is accessible to all students. Each student is in possession of a
Mac Book Pro Laptop that is provided from the college. Students are part of the net-generation with excellent
command of online learning tools. Oklt Alsqoor college of Science and Arts offers the most convenient
conditions for both learners and teachers to undertake a blended learning experience, particularly, through
flipped instruction.
Reliability and Validity of the EFL Writing Test
Since two teachers assessed the EFL writing test, a Pearson Correlation Coefficient testing for inter-rater
reliability was used to assess the consistency of the scores of the two assessors.
Questionnaire
This questionnaire measures the students’ attitude towards flipping and whether flipping can improve
writing skills or not. The questionnaire is consisted of 26 items and each item has a five-point—Likert format: (5)
Strongly Agree (SA), (4) Agree (A), (3) Neutral (N), (2) Disagree (D), and (1) Strongly Disagree (SD).
Responses from the subjects of the experimental group were collected online through the Google Docs analysis.
The questionnaire was made available for students’ participation for a period of two days, after which students
were no longer able to use the link provided. The data was downloaded on an excel sheet, which was then
computed through the SPSS version 20 for Windows. The questionnaire served as a tool to collect information
and enrich the study with students’ perceptions of the FCI. In order to preserve face validity, the items on the
questionnaire were given to two experienced researchers to check for lack of ambiguity. For content validity,
the questions were revised to avoid misleading statements and to ensure they are psychologically designed to
meet the requirements of the study. The questions were run on the Cronbach Scale on SPSS 20 to measure
internal consistency and reliability.
Procedures of the Study

In conducting this study, the following procedures were followed:
The researcher prepared the educational videos and the instructional writing screen tasks which are based on
1
Oshima, Alice et al., Writing Academic English (4th ed.). Longman, 2006.

the course “Writing Academic English” for the English class. They were uploaded onto the PLATO LMS for
students in the experimental group to access or emailed to them prior to the lessons. The I pad application used to
create screencasts was the “Explain Everything”, which allowed annotation and sound recording over a
PowerPoint presentation. The creation of screencasts required much editing. The researcher did the following
steps for every screencast:
(1) Create an instructional PowerPoint presentation;
(2) Open it in “Explain Everything” Application;
(3) Prepare the spoken annotations;
(4) Record the voice over the interactive video;
(5) Upload the created video onto the PLATO LMS for the experimental group’s access or email it as needed.
The use of this application was consistent with the plane to establish flipped and individualized instruction.
Students undertaking the experiment were expected to view the video prior to the class using all the interactivity
that the designed video offered. This study consisted of 15 writing packages (videos). They helped the students in
the experimental group learn concepts at their own pace in a more differentiated manner. Videos were
complimented with recommended online activities and further reading and practice. The writing lessons offered a
greater practice time in class, and the lesson tasks allowed more focus, strategies for independent learning and
apprenticeship for students in the experimental group.
The researcher explained to students how the experiment would proceed and the reasons for following the
method of flipping. Students should consider the assigned video or PPT as their homework to come to class ready
with the information needed to free more practice in class time. Expectations from students were described in
depth, but required around two weeks from proper class implementation. This was due to students’ initial
resistance in the experimental group to change in the instructional delivery method.
Throughout the duration of the study, the control group received traditional instruction in class in a
student-centered learning environment but with the same activities and time for scaffolding tasks for students
except that the responses to the writing prompts were completed at home. In contrast, the experimental group was
learning by doing as the content of their lesson was given to them in advance to provide them with opportunities
to learn at their own pace and be more involved in class activities. The method was different.
The experiment began in January 2015 and continued for about three months. The EFL prewriting test and the
questionnaire were administered to the control and the experimental groups on 26th of January, 2015. Every week,
students in the experimental group were given a video PowerPoint to watch before the next class. The videos were
designed to help students write an essay each week. After few weeks, students get accustomed to the flipped method
and were involved in the class activities. Class activities were task-based and scaffold depending on students’
learning abilities. At the end of the experiment, the post EFL writing test was administered to the control and the
experimental group on April 26 and the questionnaire was post applied to the experimental group in the same day.
Results
Table 1
Results of the T-test of the Experimental and the Control Group in the Post-writing Test
Group N Mean S.D. T-value df Sig.
Experimental 30 20 1.84 24.8 29 Sig.
Control 30 11.3 1 29

Table 1 shows that there is statistically significant difference at 0.05 between the mean scores of the
experimental group (X1 = 20) and the control group (X2 = 11.3) in the post-test of writing in favor of the
experimental group as indicated by T-value (24.8). This difference may be attributed to the effect of the
experimental treatment exemplified in flipping.
Table 2
Results of the T-test of the Experimental Group in the Pre and the Post-writing Test
Test N Mean S.D. T-value df Sig.
Pre 30 9.47 1.0 -84.7 29 Sig.
Post 30 20 1.34 29
Table 2 indicates that there is statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the pre-test
(X1 = 9.47) and post-test (X2 = 20) of the experimental group students in favor of the post-test. Hence, such
difference may be due to the effect of the experimental treatment exemplified in flipping.
Table 3
Results of T-test of the Posttest of the Experimental and the Control Group in EFL Writing Sub-skills
Writing sub-skills Group N Mean S.D. T-value df Sig.
Experimental 30 3.60 0.498 15.92** 59
(1) Ideas and content Sig.
Control 30 3 5.86 59
Experimental 30 3.47 0.517 17.77** 59
(2) Organization Sig.
Control 30 3 6.16 59
Experimental 30 7.33 0.476 31.72** 59
(3) Style Sig.
Control 30 3 9.46 59
Experimental 30 7.40 0.563 24.44** 59
(4) Voice Sig.
Control 30 3 10.8 59
The above Table 3 shows that there is statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the
experimental and the control group students in post-test of all sub-skills of EFL writing in favor of the
experimental group as T-value for independent sample is between 14.00 and 36.33 and proved to be significant
at 0.05 (one-tailed) for all sub-skills: ideas and content, organization, voice, and style. This difference between
the experimental and the control group students can be attributed to using flipping.
Table 4
Results of the T-test of the Pre-test and the Post-test of the Experimental Group in Overall Writing Sub-skills
Writing sub-skills Test N Mean S.D. T-value df Sig.
Pre 30 2 6.19 16.98** 59
(1) Ideas and content Sig.
Post 30 5 1.87 59
Pre 30 3 7.67 19.41** 59
(2) Organization Sig.
Post 30 5 8.19 59
Pre 30 3 7.67 30.06** 59
(3) Style Sig.
Post 30 5 8.96 59
Pre 30 2 14.38 23.48** 59
(4) Voice Sig.
Post 30 5 16 59
Table 4 shows that there is statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the pre-test and
the post-test of the experimental group students in post-test of all skills of EFL writing in favor of the
experimental group as T-value for paired sample is between 9.26 and 18.63 which proved to be significant at
0.05 (one-tailed) for all skills: ideas and content, organization, voice, and style. These differences between the

T
THE EFFECT
T OF A FLIPP
PING CLASSROOM ON
N WRITING S
SKILL 107
mean scorees of pre-testt and post-tesst of the expeerimental gro

oup students can be attribbuted to the effect
e of the
experimenttal treatment exemplified in flipping.
14
12
10
8
4Series
6
3Series
4
2Series
2
1Series
0
EExperimental
Control
group Control
group Experimentaal
group
group
Figure 1. Thhe results of thee T-test of the exxperimental and

d the control grroup in the postt-writing test.
14
12
10
8 3Series
6 2Series
1Series
4
0
Pre‐‐writing Post writing Pre‐writing Post writting
test test test test
Figure 2. The results of the

t T-test of thee experimental group
g in the pree and the post w
writing test.
Table 5
Results of the
t T-test of the d the Post Appplication of thhe Questionnaire
t Experimenntal Group inn the Pre and
Experimentaal N Meann S.D.
S T-value df Sig.
Pre applicatiion 30 60 3
3.40 70.7 29 Sig.
Post applicaation 30 122 4
4.80 29

108 T
THE EFFECT
T OF A FLIPP
PING CLASSROOM ON
N WRITING S
SKILL
Table 5 shows thaat there is staatistically signnificant differrence between the mean sccores of the pre
p and post
applicationn of the experrimental grouup in favor of the post app plication as T-value
T for ppaired samplee is between
70.7 whichh proved to beb significantt at 0.05 (onee-tailed). This difference can be attributed to the effect
e of the
experimenttal treatment exemplified in flipping.
14
12
10
8
6 3Series
4 2Series
2 1Series
0
Pre apllication
P n
of Post
q
questionnaire e application of
questionnaire
Figure 3. The resultss of the T-test of

o the pre and post applicatio
on of the experrimental group questionnaire towards
t
flipping instruction.
Discussion
n
This is
i a study of the effect of a flipping cllassroom on writing
w skill in English ass a foreign laanguage and
students’ attitude
a towards flipping.
The thhree major questions
q in this
t study weere analyzed using pretesst and posttest outcomes to examine
students’ writing
w skills: ideas and coontent, organiization, voice and style, annd students’ aattitude towarrds flipping.
When lookking at the treeatment of flipping, the experimental group outperrformed the ccontrol group p in the post
writing testt. This improovement in thhe experimenttal group writing may be attributed
a to using flipping. Also, the
experimenttal group shoowed improvvement in theeir writing sk a content, oorganization, voice, and
kills: ideas and
style. This indicated thaat flipping cann have a posiitive effect on
n improving students’
s writting skills. Since only 22% %
of undergraaduate univerrsity write att or above thee proficient leevel (Magrathh, 2003), the results of th his study are
important tot help univeersity Englishh instructors find
f methods to assist studdents in imprroving writing skills that
are neededd later on in life.
l This would indicate that teachers need to use any means aavailable to develop d this
a available toool, teachers should use th
skill. Sincee flipping is an his tool to im
mprove writingg skills that will
w help the
students ass they get a joob.
Flippeed learning haas a positive effect on studdent writing abilities.
a Flippped learning can provide the t students
with an oppportunity to learn in a moore differentiated fashion rather than liinear and diddactic (Butt, 2014; 2 Tune,
Sturek, & Basile,
B 2013; Willey & Gaardner, 2013)). Students no oted several times
t that theey appreciated d the ability
to digest thhe content off their essays and writing exercises
e wheen they deem med necessaryy, so long as it was done

before the next class period. Though the majority of students completed the required outside content on a fairly
regular basis, there was always a small portion that did not (Davies, Dean, & Ball, 2013; Gaughan, 2014;
Murphree, 2014; Willey & Gardner, 2013).
The results of the study are also consistent with the constructivist theories of learning. Students in the
experimental group constructed their long-term learning by applying inductive learning strategies to improve
their writing skills in opposition with Chomsky’s simplified notion of language learning as an unconscious
process. Their learning occurred as a result of critically analyzing key concepts at their own pace in an
individualized setting such as their homes. In this fashion, they improved their English writing proficiency by
consciously following taught strategies. Furthermore, the findings of the study also support the impact of the
method of instruction on students’ achievement in writing through the form-focused instruction and input-based
instruction (Ellis, 1997; VanPatten, 1994, as cited in Robinson, 2001). Students in the experimental group
emphasized the input-based instruction, which helped them to consciously notice the language features.
In terms of student engagement, flipped learning received the most positive remarks from students in the
qualitative surveys, especially when addressing the use of class time. Students perceived the use of classroom
activities that activated higher-order thinking to be able to write different types of essays and perform their
writing tasks (Davies, Dean, & Ball, 2013; Lemmer, 2013; Murphree, 2014; Willey & Gardner, 2013; Wilson,
2013). Additionally, the environment afforded students to remain at higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy for
longer periods of time (Enfield, 2013). The longer students remain in the higher levels of thinking and problem
solving, the more they feel engaged with their writing tasks, and the perceived quality of the learning is greater
as they have more and more time to brainstorm their minds and jot down their ideas at their own pace (Wilson,
2013). In addition, it was clear that a flipped learning environment better prepares students for the written work
environment.
Bruce, Hughes, and Somerville (2012) indicated that Informed Learning was a key piece to students
feeling comfortable with how to learn. How students took the written tasks that is given to them, made sense of
it, and learned from it in authentic ways, is what gave students confidence in learning beyond the classroom
(Lemmer, 2013). This idea was the premise of every flipped learning environment tested in this review.
The results of the study are consistent with active learning. Flipped learning empowered students through
more active learning (Butt, 2014; Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000; Findlay-Thompson & Mombourquette, 2014).
Rather than having the instructor’s interpretation of the material delivered explicitly during class time where
students passively took notes and possibly asked questions, the students were held more accountable for the
front-loading of their writing content. Students can revise content outside the class space and synthesize the
material at their own pace. By assigning the videos to be watched as homework, the teacher aims to situate the
content of the writing lesson in the learners’ world. Active learning is generally defined as one that engages
students in the learning process, where learners are actively and extensively involved in activities and are
responsible for and have ownership over their learning. This more active role is difficult for some students to
adjust to, but it was evident that they do prefer it, especially looking at the percentage of students who prefer a
flipped environment to a traditional one (Enfield, 2013; Pearson Education Inc., 2013; Tune, Sturek, & Basile,
2013).
The findings could also be interpreted as the benefits of combining different teaching methods, which are
a form of blended learning and a set of rich class tasks that are differentiated depending on students’ personal
and diverse abilities. These tasks represented individualized in-class learning plans that engaged students in an

inquiry that led them to reach the same learning outcome in a differentiated, more personalized manner. All in
all, students’ performance showed a better understanding, a higher knowledge, and improved writing skills. The
FCI and the corresponding class activities were carefully designed to help learners to clearly express their ideas
and logically organize them in an interesting and correct way. Consequently, the FCI could be openly credited
to the writing progress. The rich input through the videos and the following classroom interaction and
individualized tasks promoted better skills and enhanced the written productions on the different levels of
rhetoric and linguistic level of the language. Students attentively noticed the new linguistic concepts presented
in the videos. They were given ample opportunities in the task-based activities to analyze information, focus on
the output production, and be engaged in their writing. Hence, adjusting the teaching method to include
well-defined writing knowledge enhanced students’ awareness of good writing strategies. The FCI approach
holds that students have more time to write in class, apply their learning, and receive immediate feedback and
prompting from the teacher who assists them through their individualized tasks to ensure a production that
reflects improved content, organization, cohesion, sentence structure, and lexical conventions
In addition, taking into account data from students’ responses on the questionnaire, it was found that a
considerable number of students felt more motivated and independent because of the Flipped Classroom
Instruction. Learner autonomy is best manifested in students through better confidence in their attainment and
abilities. This is a feature, which was reported by many students in the experimental group who felt greater
confidence to their learning and skills. This, of course, was reflected not only through the questionnaire but also
through the improved results, and was found to be consistent with Smith (2008) who views learners in the
center of their learning, which is enhanced by Blended Approaches to Learning. Past research (Liu, 2013;
Chang, 2005; Kemmer, 2011, 2012) holds that learners today highly appreciate computers and technology, and
blended learning in general increases student-centeredness, motivation, autonomy, and writing ability.
Conclusion
Throughout the past years, there has been much emphasis on the importance of using educational
technology in the teaching of languages. Starting with Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and
moving onwards, there seems to be an improvement in the quality of students’ writing. The results of this study
indicate that not only did flipping classroom instruction improve students’ attainment in writing but also it
improved their overall attitudes and beliefs towards the writing skill. Moreover, this teaching method boosted
students’ motivation and class engagement. Students in the experimental group demonstrated a better writing
attainment through the FCI, and found that they became more engaged and responsible of their learning.
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Appendix A: An EFL Writing Test
Choose one of the following topics and write a five-paragraph- essay about it:
Topic one: Making a cake.
Topic: Community service.
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Appendix B: Questionnaire
Students’ attitudes towards the Flipped Classroom Instruction:

Dear Students,
Please describe your attitude towards the Flipped Classroom Instruction. Please read the below statements carefully and
answer them as truthfully as possible by ticking the right box. Try to answer all the questions given. Please note that all answers
are anonymous.
5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 2 = Disagree, 1 = Strongly Disagree
Rate your attitude to flipped instruction in an English Writing Class from 51 5 4 3 2 1
1. The flipped instruction allows me to prepare for my class in advance.
2. Through the screencasts/videos, I have enough time to acquire the sentence structures.
3. I feel more confident to ask for clarifications after watching the screencasts.
4. I feel more confident about my learning due to the flipped instruction.
5. The flipped instruction made it easier for me to write Task 1 and 2 responses.
6. My writing strategies are better as I have more time to apply the learning in class.
7. I feel I am more in charge of my learning through the flipped instruction.
8. I feel that the flipped instruction has not helped me at all.
9. I understand more when the teacher explains in class.
10.I like to write in class to get instant feedback from my teacher.
11. The quality of my communication skills in English has improved.
12. I felt more engaged in this class than in other classes I have taken.
13. Classroom time was used effectively.
14. If given the choice, I would continue learning English with the flipped classroom model.
15. The flipped classroom model helped me feel more comfortable speaking English during class.
16. I feel confident participating in basic conversations in English.
17. Online resources are helpful in learning English.
18. Online grammar quizzes that allow me to receive immediate feedback are helpful in learning English.
19. Knowledge of English grammar is important to my overall learning of English.
20. Knowledge of vocabulary is important to my overall learning of English.
21. The best way to learn grammar is to have my teacher lecture on it in class.
22. I prefer watching video lessons at home (such as the annotation video) rather than live teacher instruction in class.
23. I feel that the use of technology is helping me learn in this class.
24. I think the online videos/materials used in my English class so far are effective in helping me learn.
25. My English classroom provides me more opportunity than my other classes to communicate with other students.
26. I like submitting assignments and receiving teacher feedback online through Moodle.

doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.004
D DAVID PUBLISHING
The Establishment of Strategy-Training-Based Writing Teaching

Mode via Language Experiment Platform (LEP)
JIAO Li-xia
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
The present paper establishes the strategy-training-based writing teaching mode via Language Experiment Platform
(LEP). The mode aims to improve non-English major students’ comprehensive use of metacognitive, cognitive, and
social-affective strategies in writing. The three types of strategies, especially cognitive strategies, are further
classified into more specific subtypes so that the training can be done gradually and systematically in both
classroom settings and out of classes. The fundamental purpose is to help overcome such barriers in college writing
teaching as not enough time, too big classes, and too heavy burden for teachers. Hopefully, students can raise their
awareness and the actual use of strategy use in writing, their learner autonomy, and eventually their overall writing
proficiency.
Keywords: strategy training, language experiment platform, strategy use, learner autonomy, writing proficiency
Introduction
Writing, as an important skill of output in foreign language acquisition, has been a constant headache for
students, especially for many non-English major learners. Since October 2013, the researcher has assigned
different writing tasks to 14 different classes. Learners have been required to write compositions on topics of
different genres, including narration (such as Recent Changes in My Family Life), description (such as the
description of a person, place, building, etc.), exposition (such as On Human Nature and How Can Man Tackle
Climate Changes), and argumentation (such as Is Our Society Safe and Can Man Conquer Nature). Applied
writings are also included, such as the writing of letters of application and thank-you letters. Over the years,
1,977 compositions have been collected, which has provided abundant research materials for the researcher,
who detected numerous problems of various types in the writings. The researcher has identified students’ nine
major problems with word choice (JIAO, 2012). Apart from word choice problems, students also have
problems in content, organization, grammar, etc. When it comes to time limited writing, the problems would be
more serious.
Lists of possible factors may have contributed to students’ incompetency in writing. In many colleges and
universities in China, there is no writing course at all. Writing is usually taught as a supplement in intensive
reading classes and it only accounts for a minute proportion of the classes. Both teachers and students actually
spend little time and energy in writing. Even if teachers spend time in dealing with writing, they seldom
systematically elaborate on writing strategies. So when students are practicing writing, they have no idea about
how to practice. Therefore, although they have written a lot, both teachers and students themselves cannot feel
JIAO Li-xia, lecturer, master, School of Humanities, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

116 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGY-TRAINING-BASED WRITING TEACHING MODE
much progress in their writings. Moreover, students do not have sufficient input in English, so they cannot
actually improve their writing proficiency despite lots of practice. On account of these, our school has built a
platform via which teachers can introduce writing strategies, give well-selected reading materials, assign
writing tasks, and give feedback on students’ writings. Learners can acquire writing strategies, read authentic
materials, fulfill writing tasks, and interact with their teachers or peers about writing strategies and writing tasks.
A strategy-training-based teaching mode via the language experiment platform is thus designed.
Related Theories
Definition and Classification of Learning Strategies
Scholars (Stern, 1983; Weinstein & Mayer, 1986; Chamot, 1987; Rubin, 1987; Oxford, 1989) have given
different definitions for learning strategies. Language learning strategies are defined in the present paper as “the
conscious behaviors or thoughts learners engage in in the process of language acquisition intended to enhance
their language competence and performance”. Here, strategies refer to both general approaches and specific
actions or techniques used to learn an L2. Scholars at home and abroad (O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Oxford,
1990; WEN, 1995) have classified strategies into different types based on different criteria. CHENG Xiao-tang
and ZHENG Min (2003) pointed out that the divergence in the existing definitions and classifications results
from different strategies identified in different studies and different understandings of the language learning
process. And two classification schemes are nowadays more frequently adopted: According to the role
strategies play in the learning process, we have cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and communicative
strategies; with regard to the division between knowledge and skills, we have strategies for learning
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and strategies for developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing
skills. The present paper focuses on the three main types of strategies, including metacognitive, cognitive, and
social-affective strategies in writing. And these strategies can be further divided into subtypes.
Research Into the Use of Learning Strategies in Writing
Many researchers have done researches into the use of learning strategies in writing. WANG Jun-ju (2007)
mentioned the studies conducted by Khaldieh (2000), Zhu (2001), and Olivares-Cuhat (2002) and pointed out
that learning strategies in writing and the combination of qualitative and quantitative studies are the new areas
of writing research. XU Jin-fen and TANG Fang (2007) conducted the case studies by comparing the
metacognitive knowledge of five good learners and five poor learners in English writing and found that the
good learners have a better mastery of metacognitive knowledge than the poor ones and the former did better in
strategy use and writing processes. CHANG Jun-yue, ZHANG Ying-yi, and CHEN Jing (2009) probed into
teachers’ teaching strategies in enlarged writing classes and put forward suggestions on how to teach writing in
enlarged classes. XU Fang and DING Yan-ren (2010) tracked and described the strategy use of six students
from English major to solve lexical problems in time-limited writing by asking the students to think aloud and
interviewing and testing them. The profound research is instructive, but it only covers the lexical strategy use in
writing. ZHAO Jiang-kui (2011) conducted a study into college students’ motivation adaptation strategies in
writing and found that motivation adaptation strategies exert significant influence on students’ writing
proficiency and their use of English learning strategies. But motivation is only one component of metacognitive
strategies. PANG Hui (2012) comes up with the suggestions that metacognitive, cognitive, and social-affective
strategy training should all be strengthened among non-English major students by conducting questionnaires

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGY-TRAINING-BASED WRITING TEACHING MODE 117
and surveys. LIU Shi-sheng and LIU Mei-hua (2013) examine the processes of English writing by 20 university
EFL learners, the challenges they encountered during the process, and the strategies they employed to handle
the challenges. Their efforts to pay heed to the writing process instead of just the outcome are appreciated, but
the suggestions they offered are too general to be followed. Apart from the studies mentioned above, YANG
Shu-xian (2002), LU Wen-jun (2006), XU Heng and GAN Wen-ning (2007), HAN Song (2008), RAN
Zhou-lin (2011), QIN Xiao-qing and BI Jing (2012), HUI Liang-hong and MA Shuo (2012), ZHENG Yao-fei
(2012), and WU Rong-hui and HE Gao-da (2014) have also conducted various studies into the strategy use in
writing. But none of the studies covered all the three major types of strategies. The present study is to
implement strategy training for non-English major students in extra-large classes via the Language Experiment
Platform (LEP).
Language Experiment Platform (LEP)

The language experiment platforms were developed by BUPT (Beijing University of Posts and
Telecommunications) based on constructivism and task-based language teaching theory. The LEP of Writing
was designed by the present researcher and her colleagues. Learners are expected to fulfill different tasks or
experiments in the process of language learning. The LEP of Writing is composed of two major centers, as is
shown in Figure 1.
The LEP of Writing
Administration Learning
Center Center
Mechanism maintenance Strategy training

Role maintenance Writing experiments
Authority maintenance Supplementary reading
Score center Students’ writings
Additional resources
Teacher-student Interaction
Figure 1. Components of language experiment platform.
The administration center is responsible for the information management of students’ universities or
colleges, schools or departments, majors and classes, data importing, adjusting, editing, and deleting, defining
different roles and rights of system administrators, teachers and students, grouping students in terms of
different criteria and the calculating, the importing and exporting of students’ scores over terms or semesters.
The learning center consists of the following modules: strategy explanation (different categories of writing
strategies and their subcategories are listed and illustrated), writing experiments (altogether 12 types of writing
experiments are included: assessment, differentiation, error correction, blank filling, paragraph extending,
translation, writing outlines, passage rewriting, imitation writing, writing specific paragraphs, writing the whole
passages, and commenting on videos. Some of them are to be done individually, some in pairs and still others
in groups. After the students have finished the experiments, they are supposed to self-assess and peer assess

their tasks and then teachers are to assess the students’ tasks), supplementary reading (some well-selected
reading materials are provided to aid students’ writing), students writing (this module further contains two
subcategories: excellent writings and problematic writings. Students are to appreciate the well-written passages
and detect the problems in problematic writings), additional resources (related audios, videos, and websites are
provided), teacher-student interaction (notices, blogs, discussion board, and wiki will facilitate the
communication between teachers and students and among students themselves).
The Strategy-Training-Based Writing Teaching Mode via LEP

Writing strategies covered here include metacognitive, cognitive, and social-affective strategies. The
categorization of each type is shown as follows:
Table 1
General Categories of Writing Strategies
Making both long-term and short-term plans
Metacognitive Monitoring the acquisition of writing proficiency as a whole and each writing process
strategies Assessing the writing process and outcome
Reflecting on the writing process and outcome individually and with peers
Reading
Recitation
Imitation
General strategies
Attaching equal importance to form and content
Revising
Rewriting
Writing Cognitive strategies
For content
strategies
For organization
For grammar
Specific strategies
For sentences
For diction
For rhetoric
Improving the attitude towards writing
Maintaining the proper anxiety level
Social-affective
Stimulating both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
strategies
Enhancing self-confidence in writing
Strengthening cooperation with peers
As is seen in Table 1, cognitive strategies can further be divided into general and specific strategies. The
general ones include reading English originals and sample writings, reciting carefully-selected passages,
consciously imitating sample writings, attaching equal importance to form and content, carefully revising one’s
own compositions, rewriting one’s own compositions for improvement. When it comes to the various aspects in
writing, including the content, the organization, the grammar, the sentences, and the diction, more specific
strategies can be used.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STRATEGY-TRAINING-BASED WRITING TEACHING MODE 119
Table 2
Special Categories of Cognitive Strategies
Brainstorming
Developing dialectical thinking
Content Developing creative and critical thinking
Ensuring the unity and logicality of content
Guaranteeing the conciseness of the content
Writing an outline
Arranging the content in terms of importance
Structure
Dividing paragraphs properly
Using transitional devices properly
Using sentences of different functions (statements, questions, exclamations, imperatives)
Using sentences of different structures (simple sentences, coordinate sentences,
compound sentences, and coordinate compound sentences)
Sentences
Using special sentential structures, such as emphatic sentences, double negation, etc.)
Cognitive Using clauses of different patterns, including SV, SVO, SVC, SVA, SVOO, SVOC, and
strategies SVOA
(specific)
Increasing vocabulary in context through reading, listening, writing etc.
Using Chinese-English and English-English dictionaries together
Choosing the proper and appropriate words in terms of their meaning, including choosing
the subordinate instead of the superordinate, distinguishing synonyms, and homoionym of
Diction different emphasis and different degrees), formality (deciding whether the words should
be used in formal, informal, literary or colloquial styles), and colors (deciding whether the
words are commendatory or derogatory).
Correcting spelling errors and improving the diversity of word use
Using chunks
Familiarizing oneself with English grammar
Grammar Overcoming grammatical errors in writing, such as the errors made in such aspects as the
case, number and gender of nouns, the tenses and voices of verbs, the agreement between
subjects and objects, etc.
Consciously using some rhetoric devices if necessary, such as simile, metaphor,
Rhetoric
metonymy, hyperbole, personification, etc.
Strategy training can be carried out both in class and out of class. In class, strategy training should follow
the procedure: teachers explaining the specific strategy, teachers modeling the strategy use, students practicing
the strategy use, teachers assigning the writing task (requiring students to use the strategy). After class, strategy
training can be done online. Students log on to the LEP and go over the different modules. In the “strategy
training” module, students familiarize themselves with the strategy the teacher has explained in class by reading
more samples given. In the “writing experiments” module, students finish the assigned writing task by making
use of the strategy that has just been explained in class. Students are also able to assess their writings
individually and with peers. After students have finished the self-assessment and peer assessment, teachers can
assess students’ writings and give proper feedback. In the “supplementary reading” module, students are
provided with some teacher-carefully-selected passages. Teachers’ guidelines about how to read each passage
are given so that students are target-oriented in reading. They are to direct their attention to the use of a certain
strategy in the passage. The “students’ writings” module contains two parts: excellent writings by students and
problematic writings by students. Teacher’s assessment of the writings is given. In the “additional resources”
module, relevant audios, videos, or the websites are offered. The “teacher-student interaction” module further
contains various tools with one of which all the students can interact with each other or they can interact with

the teacher or they can have further discussion in small groups about the strategy use in writing or any other
questions related to writings.
Conclusion
The strategy-training-based writing teaching mode aims to familiarize students with different strategies so
as to improve their overall writing proficiency. The different modules will enable students to fully understand
the different strategies through much reading, sampling, and interaction with the teacher and peers so that they
can acquire the strategy use both in classroom settings and out of classes, which will aid students’ Self-access
Language Learning (SALL) as “there is some evidence that learners find SALL useful (and sometimes
enjoyable)” (Gardner & Miller, 2007, p. 25) and hopefully the strategy use will help students to improve their
writings. And extra exposure to language is also beneficial for students. Of course, to what degree the mode
will help students to improve their writing proficiency is to be found with empirical studies conducted among
students.
References
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Gardner, D., & Miller, L. (2007). Establishing self-access from theory to practice. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language
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doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.005
D DAVID PUBLISHING
Developing Students’ Global Perspectives

in Secondary Chinese Classrooms
GAO Jing
Leestown Middle School, Fayette County Public Schools, Lexington, KY, U.S.A.
With the development of economy, technology, and international exchanges, the process of globalization has been
accelerated. In order to meet the needs of our increasingly complex and changing world, our students need to be
prepared for global competence. In language classrooms, we need to enhance students’ cultural awareness and
develop their global perspectives so that they can be prepared for successfully participating in global affairs and
becoming competitive, creative, and humanized citizens in their future. In this paper, the author explores and
discusses the strategies that teachers can employ in Chinese classrooms at middle and high schools to develop
students’ global perspectives.
Keywords: global perspectives, global competence, cultural competence, Chinese education, global education
Introduction
We live in a changing world due to processes of globalization even though societies have been connected
with one another to some degree throughout history. Modern communication and transportation networks and
new information technologies have made the interconnectedness of different peoples more extensive and
intensive. Globalization today implies that many aspects of political, economic, and social activities are
becoming interregional or intercontinental in scope, and there has been an intensification of levels of interaction
and interconnectedness within and between states and societies (Held, 2000). What happens in one part of the
world increasingly affects and is affected by others due to the interconnectedness and interdependence of the
system. These changes bring forth important educational implications. Scholars call for today’s educators to
teach for a global perspective and prepare students to become active and informed citizens in this globalized
society (Alger & Harf, 1986; Hanvey, 1976; Kniep, 1986; Merryfield, 2002; Merryfield & Wilson, 2005; Pike &
Selby, 1999).
In recent years, China as the second largest world’s economy is increasingly playing an important and
influential role in the global economy. China is and will be an important economic and business partner of the US.
The rise of China presents new economic, political, and social realities that demand greater US engagement at
every level. While Chinese language continues to rapidly expand from kindergarten to college classrooms in the
US, the language education is inadequate to meet the challenges of contemporary life in the global age. There has
been a growing demand for effective, culturally competent, and world-minded Chinese teachers who play
GAO Jing, Ph.D., Leestown Middle School, Fayette County Public Schools.
122 DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
significant roles in developing our students’ proficiency in Chinese language, global perspectives, and
appreciation of cultural diversity for the success in their future workforce. Representing one of the greatest
challenges facing education researchers in today’s global economy, the goal of world language education is to
increase our students’ language skills and cultural/global competence, allowing them to successfully interact with
the global community both inside and outside our borders (ACTFL, 2014).
In this article, I integrate the five elements in global education into secondary Chinese language classrooms
to develop students’ cultural awareness and global perspectives. These five elements include resistance to
stereotyping, teaching perspective consciousness, cross-cultural learning, global issues, and world
interconnectedness. The teaching strategies that discussed in the following sections could create a way for
educators to develop students’ global perspectives over time and to prepare them for dealing with their
involvement in worldwide systems and becoming effective, responsible, and humanized citizens in our
interconnected world.
Resistance to Stereotyping
Pike and Selby (1999) describe stereotypes as “how we often attribute a range of common, often negative,
characteristics to groups of people who are or seem different, hence negating their individuality” (p. 154). Often
stereotyping occurs when quaint or exotic features of a culture are focused on. Students bring into classrooms
their distorted or exotic images of different people and cultures from the media and other influences in the
environment, which lack conscious examination and mingle with their prejudice and ethnocentrism (Merryfield
& Wilson, 2005). Resistance to stereotyping provides a powerful stimulus for students to reflect upon and
reframe their personal worldviews. This resistance discourages generalizations about people and nations and
appreciates sufficient diversity and complexity in groups of people, cultures, and nations.
The first step in teaching students to resist stereotyping is to identify middle and high school students’ prior
knowledge as well as stereotypes and images of people, cultures, or nations under study. In Chinese classrooms,
teachers can have students brainstorm on the relevant topics what they know about Chinese people and culture in
general and seek out and identify the knowledge, experiences, and values that shape their worldviews of others in
order to understand their decisions or stereotypic interpretation of events or issues. For example, we can start a
unit long process of self-reflection with survey at the beginning of the thematic unit of food in middle school
Chinese class. Students are asked to write and respond to a list of questions, such as “What is your earliest
memory of Chinese food? Do you have favorite Chinese food now, and what is it? What are your beliefs and
perspectives on Chinese food?”. In the following full-class discussion, we can have students share their personal
experiences and questions on food and eating in Chinese culture. Teachers can take this teaching moment giving
students the articles, showing them video clips, and teaching about food and eating habits in Chinese culture as
well as comparing similarities and differences between Chinese American food and food in China. Finally, we
can ask students to speculate on the implications of this lesson for their study of Chinese food. The classroom
participation and discussion aims to explore how students’ assumptions have been led by their knowledge,
experiences, and beliefs, and how their assumptions have shaped interpretations of images, events, and issues.
The skills of reflection and critical thinking can be developed with practice and purposeful thought over time.
DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 123
Second, to resist stereotyping, teachers need to develop lessons to replace misconceptions or limited
knowledge with information and knowledge on the complexity of cultures, cultural conflicts, and global issues.
Merryfield and Wilson (2005) suggest that prejudice and stereotyping can be reduced when students engage in
activities with new knowledge that disconfirms specific stereotypes and replaces them with new information, and
the new information is reinforced through meaningful, real-life experiences. For example, when we recognize
students’ over-generalized misperception of people in China as poor, uneducated, and starving, we can have
students work with maps and statistics on Chinese demographics, read primary source documents such as letters,
speeches, or diaries, and watch documentary films that describe middle class young adults’ life in China. Gao’s
article (2008), One Day With a Second Grader in Beijing, provides a diary-like description of one day in the life
of an elementary student in Beijing, China. It can be used in Chinese classroom to help students understand the
growing up middle class in today’s China and their perspectives, values, norms of behaviors beyond the surface
culture. When students have more knowledge, we can invite guest speakers (Chinese people who work in
different professional fields in the local community and American people who have recently visited China) to
come into class and interact with students to reinforce the study with their first-hand life experiences.
Considering the limitation of using visuals to effectively help students overcome stereotypes as many of
them are dated, focus on the negative part of Chinese culture, and omit the realities of everyday life for common
people, we can employ websites and webcams as powerful resources to have students actually see life in other
places in China as it really is and they are mostly not outdated. On the other hand, we can use some secondary
source materials when describing some classroom activities to raise students’ awareness of stereotypes in
learning the relevant issues.
Teaching Perspective Consciousness

In his work An Attainable Global Perspective, Hanvey (1976) defines the skills of perspective
consciousness:
The recognition or awareness on the part of the individual that he or she has a view of the world that is not
universally shared, that this view of the world has been and continues to be shaped by influences that often escape
conscious detection, and that others have views of the world that are profoundly different from one’s own. (p. 5)
Perspective consciousness allows students to recognize how their values, cultural beliefs, and norms of
behavior influence their perception and interpretation of events or issues. It also provides an opportunity for
students to understand how and why people may see events or issues quite differently.
To teach perspective consciousness, teachers need to develop students’ ability to reflect upon their own
perspectives, values, norms, beliefs, and experiences which have been accumulated through family, school, and
society. It is interwoven with the strategy of resistance to stereotyping.
Teachers also need to incorporate multiple perspectives that people and nations hold about the world, which
comprise the deeper layers of values, beliefs, and norms of individuals, groups, and nations regardless of time and
space into lessons, help students learn to deal with conflicting information, and develop in them a habit of the
mind to look for and examine the views of the marginalized people. In Chinese classrooms, we can use primary
sources (such as editorials, speeches, political documents, or websites) and literature written by people in China
(autobiographies, children’s stories, or historical fiction) within the study of important events and issues. These
sources create complexity and enrich concept learning. One example is about the study of population in the lesson
of introduction to China. We can introduce primary sources by government, majority ethnic Han people,
minorities, and other groups with different socio-economic status influenced by one-child policy and new family
planning policy in China. We can help students to understand the ways where different groups have experienced
and thought about the actions of family planning policies in China and how these policies have affected people’s
lives today and will affect in future locally, nationally, and globally. It can promote students’ skills of tolerance,
understanding, and appreciation of multiple perspectives, and their ability to see the complexity of human
behavior.
Simulations can be employed as powerful activities to teach perspective consciousness in Chinese
classrooms as well. “Simulations allow students to participate in scenarios that imitate certain dynamics of
real-life situation” (Anderson, 1994, p. 97). For example, a simulation game called Bafa Bafa can be used to
promote students’ understanding of perspective consciousness and to explore their assumptions and
misconceptions on Chinese cultural customs. This simulation creates an artificial situation, where two groups of
students assume specific roles for the Alpha culture and for the Beta culture, following the predefined rules
respectively. We can carefully design a set of facilitator instructions, certain student materials, and include
suggested questions and instructions for debriefing at the end of the activity. There is also some space for students
to bring their prior experience and personal values to the activity in the simulation. Simulations provide a good
opportunity for students to use their abilities in dramatization and speech and skills of observation, perspective
taking, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making to demonstrate their understanding of others’ point of
view. Students also actively obtain information about themselves, others, human beings’ actions, and the contexts
in which the decisions are made.
Cross-Cultural Learning
In his work An Attainable Global Perspective, Hanvey (1976) defines cross-cultural awareness:
Awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices to be found in human societies around the world, of how such ideas
and practices compare, and including some limited recognition of how the ideas and ways of one’s own society might be
viewed from other vantage points. (p. 10)
There has been extensive research on cross-cultural psychology, sociology, and intercultural
communication, including Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity by Bennett (1993). Bennett
describes the psychology of people’s thought process, and categorizes denial, defense, and minimization in the
ethnocentric stages and acceptance, adaptation, and integration in the ethnorelative stages as intercultural
development where people learn to value and respond respectfully to others in all cultures. Bennett’s model is
particularly relevant to how teachers can use appropriate strategies to help students overcome ethnocentrism and
develop intercultural competence. For example, if students are at the denial stage, unaware of the existence of
cultural difference, or the defense stage, acknowledging cultural differences but feeling threatened by them, we
can invite guest speakers (American teachers working in the same school) to share their pictures and videos of
Beijing or other places where they visited in China, to demonstrate cultural differences that are obvious but not
threatening.
To develop students’ intercultural competence and global perspectives, teachers need to find ways in
Chinese classrooms to increase students’ cross-cultural learning experiences with people different from
themselves. Experience with different people can have a powerful impact on students’ global understanding
(Merryfield & Wilson, 2005). We can take students on field trips to Chinese restaurants, stores, concerts,
museums, and festivals in the local community, or other places in the United States and overseas. We can invite
Chinese students from local exchange high school student programs or universities as cultural consultants in
Chinese classrooms to interact with our students and facilitate their learning of China and Chinese culture.
Some resources such as EPals and iEARN as well as sister schools in China can be used as opportunities for
students to get connected with peers in China and to develop intercultural competence with a better knowledge
and understanding in cross-cultural learning. EPals: Classroom Exchange connects peers around the world
through writing email, participating in a discussion board, and engaging in projects, featured with instant
language translation technology within an email browser for seven language versions. iEARN: International
Education and Resource Network offers projects for students all over the world to participate and collaborate
online. We can also exchange materials with peers in sister schools in China through telecommunications linkups.
The results of study of the same materials by classes in sister schools can be shared, and compared and contrasted.
For example, in the unit “My Daily Life”, students can work on the project about American and Chinese
teenagers’ life with peers at the schools in China. They can exchange emails, write pen-pal letters, or
communicate through video conferences (Skype, Wechat) in the target language on certain topics such as daily
routine, school experience, class schedules, and family life throughout the unit. At the end, students report their
findings about similarities and differences between their daily life and that of peers in China. They can gain
insights into their own and Chinese culture through sharing and comparing information on the project.
Teaching Global Issues

A variety of events and issues happen on the world stage: the advance in technologies, resources shortages,
the population explosion, the environmental crisis, the economic crisis, terrorism, the disposal of nuclear wastes,
religious conflict, hunger, etc. These issues have emerged as crucial to our earth’s survival and the quality of
people’s lives in the world. The events outside the national borders have increasingly affected the daily lives of
people in the US. A global issue is defined by Pike and Selby (1988) as “a contemporary phenomenon affecting
the lives of people and/or the health of the planet in a harmful way, such as environmental pollution, racism and
the threat of nuclear war” (p. 22).
Scholars have recommended certain global issues to be taught in classrooms. Alger and Harf (1986) propose
three global issues: population, food, and energy. Their characteristics are transnational in scope; solved only
through multilateral actions; persistence; and, linked to one another. Tye (1999) cites the global issues which
were most frequently reported from 52 countries, regarding the question of what issues young people need to
understand in his cross-national study of global education. They are ecology and the environment, development
issues, intercultural relations, peace and conflict, technology, human rights, and social justice. There are also
other issues included: democracy, population, HIV/AIDS, international organizations, racism, sexism, and global
citizenship.
To teach global issues, teachers need to engage students in inquiry about the causes, effects, and potential
solutions to the global issues of our time. Through seeing how they affect and are affected by these global
problems and issues, students will see how they may be part of global issues and problems, and how they may
contribute to their solution. In high schools, Chinese teachers can collaborate with the teachers from other
disciplines to teach different aspects of global issues. For example, in studying the issue of development, we can
integrate interdisciplinary content related to economic growth, population, political agendas, environmental
issues, health, education, and cultural issues into our curriculum. In our unit learning, we need to help students
understand relevant historical background of development issues, how the issues have evolved over time and
space, and how students can be involved in the search for resolution to these problems. Students can work on and
present an inquiry-based authentic research project on the topics that they selected based on their own interests
about the world’s sustainable development at the end of the unit. The goal is for students to learn about
development issues and obstacles, current solutions and organizations, and to find their own solutions or propose
plans to solve the problems.
Teaching World Interconnectedness

Our world features the interconnectedness of human activities. Individuals, groups, and nations are involved
in multiple interconnected relationships. The advance of technology has brought people and nations to work
together regardless of their geographic locations. Pike and Selby (1999) explain world interconnectedness from
four dimensions: spatial dimension—local to global interdependent systems; issues dimension—local/global
issues, interconnections between issues, and perspectives; temporal dimension—interactive phases of time,
alternative futures, and action; and, inner dimension—journey inwards, teaching/learning processes, and medium
and message.
Such connections bind all peoples, cultures and countries into a dynamic, ever-changing system in which an event
occurring, an action taken, or a decision made at one point on the globe can have multiple repercussions, both now and in
the future, in countless other places. (Pike & Selby, 1999, p. 54)
It is critical to teach students to understand and appreciate world interconnectedness. Teachers need to help
students to seek beyond a simple notion of cause and effect and explore the hidden complexity or variables that
alter phenomena in the interconnected world, recognize how their thoughts and behaviors would affect and be
affected by other nations and peoples in the world, and ultimately be able to participate effectively and
responsibly in the world through seeing their place as actors within these global systems.
To teach world interconnectedness, teachers need to involve students in the experiences of the local and
global connections. One example in the middle school Chinese classrooms is the Silk Road unit that we can
collaborate with social studies teachers. We can have students work in groups and research on commodities
exchanged, religions and technology spread along the Silk Road. Some of the guiding questions could be: What
items were exchanged on the Silk Road? Where did they come from? How were religions spread along the trade
route in all directions? What were the technologies and inventions acquired by China from the West and what
were those acquired by the West from Asia? We can give students detailed instructions on the resources including
maps, articles, websites, and videos, use a broad range of geographic, economic, political, and cultural literacy,
and follow with in-depth discussion questions such as “How could merchants profit from trading goods along the
Silk Road? How might a country enhance political power by using the Silk Road?”. Students can also practice
and develop the skills of relational thinking—“seeking connections, relationships and patterns among diverse
ideas, experiences and other phenomena” (Pike & Selby, 1999, p. 55), cooperative learning, graphic and/or
mapping skills, analytical thinking, research and information gathering, and decision-making. At the end of the
unit, we can have students write an essay about comparing and contrasting the Roman Empire’s connection to
China and the Silk Road and the United States’ connection with China and modern trade, to make a connection
between history and modern times and to identify local-global links. It can help students better understand the
complexities behind modern trade and explore how their community is in local to global interconnected system
and faces local-global challenges and opportunities. Students can document and analyze the global connections
encountered in their life and write down opportunities that local people have to affect global conditions.
Conclusion
Globalization has brought forth huge implications for the development of pedagogical practice and
educational preparation for school youth. Our increasingly complex, unpredictable, and changing world requires
students to be prepared for global perspectives so that they can cope with a more pluralistic, intertwined, and
international system.
In this article I discussed five strategies—resistance to stereotyping, teaching perspective consciousness,
cross-cultural learning, teaching global issues, and teaching world interconnectedness in secondary Chinese
classrooms. These five strategies are interrelated and cannot be separated for either understanding or practice in
teaching. They are powerful strategies for teachers to help students understand diverse cultural perspectives at a
deeper level, the role world cultures and economies play, and how what happens in China can impact the US
besides students’ acquisition of Chinese language skills. Teaching and learning about the world is also
interdisciplinary, active, and connected to daily life. Our students need to be engaged with diverse global topics
and cultures and to learn skills so that they are able to analyze problems, identify underlying assumptions, and
take effective and responsible actions to change conditions that challenge our globalized society.
References
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global education: A handbook with case studies (pp. 1-13). New York: The National Council on Foreign Language and
International Studies.
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). (2014). Global Competence Position Statement.
Anderson, C. C. (1994). Global understandings: A framework for teaching and learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Bennett, M. J. (1993). Towards ethnorelativism. In R. M. Paige (Ed.), Education for the intercultural experience (pp. 21-69).
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ePals. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.epals.com/
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doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.006
D DAVID PUBLISHING
A Crossroads of Seven Streets: A Control Mechanism of

Trilingual Scientific Texts Translations
Christidou Sofia
University of Western Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
This paper is part of a published thesis which analyses translators’ and special scientists’ behaviors towards the
Greek language use in the field of linguistics and the differentiations presented in translated versions of terms in
Greek academic textbooks. It explores the strategies employed throughout the translation process and seeks to
reveal whether innovations in terminology have been accepted by the linguistic-translators’ community and to what
extent, or if scientists tend to prefer foreign terms or turned-into-Greek versions instead of their purely Greek
equivalents. The tools used were the manual processing and contrastive analysis of indexes of terms using Dirk
Delabastita’s translation strategies out of which we created an elaboration tool consisting of seven variables and the
psychometric questionnaires. The results displayed a variation in the attitudes of the academic textbooks translators
and the questionnaire research subjects.
Keywords: translation strategies, indexes, psychometric tests, technical translation, translators’ training
Introduction
The present paper is part of a thesis that was presented in public in July 2014 (published on the site of the
Greek National Documentation Center) which analysed the translators’ behaviors and strategies as far as the
Greek language use is concerned in the fields of linguistics and telecommunications. It also examined the views
of undergraduate, postgraduate students, and graduates of foreign languages departments, departments of
primary education and early childhood education with a linguistic background, as well as translators in relation to
the differentiations presented in translated versions of linguistic and telecommunication terms in Greek in various
academic textbooks. For the needs of this thesis, we examined in detail the indexes of terms of four linguistic
(two English and two French) and four telecommunications textbooks (English)—originals and their
translations—with the use of the translation strategies developed by the Belgian translatologist Dirk Delabastita
through which we created an elaboration tool consisting of seven variables (we added here an extra strategy).
Here, due to lack of space, we are going to discuss only a number of the English and French linguistic terms.
In particular, our research aims at exploring the translation strategies employed by the translators throughout
the translation process. It seeks to reveal whether various innovations in terminology translation have become
widely accepted by the linguistic-translators’ community and to what extent, and if the prevailing confusion on
Christidou Sofia, Special Scientific Staff, Ph.D. in Translatology (Translation Criticism), Department of Mechanical
Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Western Macedonia.
130 A CROSSROADS OF SEVEN STREETS
the matter, due to the existence of different translations provided by linguists-translators, causes the special
scientists to eventually prefer foreign terms or their turned-into-Greek versions instead of a purely Greek
equivalent term.
The tools which were used in order to achieve the above aims were the thorough processing and contrastive
analysis of indexes of terms and the psychometric questionnaires we created based on linguistic academic
textbooks. The data that came to light underwent both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis.
Theoretical Framework
Translation as an Object of Translatology
For the needs of this paper translatology is quoted with a broader sense, even though the approach of Jean
René Ladmiral (1979) is considered purely translatological. This happens because he follows the via media of the
various translation theories. One can understand that by the fact that he chooses to examine philosophical texts.
Undeniably, philosophical texts are classified amongst literary and technical-scientific texts. In the framework of
medium road, Jean René Ladmiral locates the following aspects of translational phenomenon: translational entropy
or addition, translational transparency or darkening, cultural elevation or leveling, terminological consistency or
ambiguity, linguistic appropriateness or distortion, interpretation or meta-codification. Actually, these are the
translator’s everlasting questions. The same theorist considers it impossible to give all-embracing and specific
answers and he claims that the unique judgment factor is each text separately and its translation pair. This moderate
attitude becomes more obvious when compared to more extreme ones. Antoine Berman (1985, pp. 35-41) on the
other hand examines the source language and considers that translators are always in confusion and are followed by
the guilt regarding the faithfulness or faithlessness towards the original text or its translation. The moral tendency,
though, is that translation should cover the original text but, at the same time, also bring it forward through the
abolition of ethnocentrism and the promotion of interlingual and cultural consciousness. Beyond this extremity,
though, he accepts the necessity for a translation discipline which will derive not only from linguistics, literature
studies, stylistics, or any other discipline but will be in constant interaction with all of them.
On the other edge, the one that focuses on the target language, lies Gideon Toury (1995, pp. 172-175), who
calls his views “target-oriented”. Important are his remarks on the ambiguity of “literary translation” (in Greek,
this has a dual meaning thus the translation of literature texts or the word-for-word translation) and the
classification of translation in: linguistically-motivated, textually-dominated, and literary or word-for-word
translation. We should mainly, though, highlight his comments on the existence of a cultural distance between
source language and target language, reinforcing his view on the respect towards the target language.
Surely not “extremist” but also not a representative of the via media is Peter Newmark. One could claim that
his views are the first ones to get closer to technical translation. Newmark, in general, believes that a translation
theory can neither be universal nor can it turn a bad translator to a good one. It can definitely, though, reveal bad
writing and bad translation and for what reason, and at the same time it can suggest basic principles and
guidelines some of which can be rather contradictory. Then he draws a distinction between communicative and
semantic translation. The former includes the translation of non literary texts and focuses on the reader and the
target language. On the other hand, the latter includes the translation of literary texts and places emphasis on the
source language and the source text viewing it from a morphological and a content point of view. Furthermore,
A CROSSROADS OF SEVEN STREETS 131
another innovation of his is the explanation of literary (“faithful” or word-for-word) translation. Not only does he
consider it the best method, but also the unique valid one, only when an equivalent result is achieved. And this
can happen in “authentic” texts, especially in their standardized part. Hence, the translator’s task is to find these
“authentic” translations and not to create his own versions. Ultimately, he mentions the “small”—but actually
“big”—problems of translation such as the translation of proper names, institutions, cultural meanings,
metaphors—according to him the most significant—but also of the terms that until then were ignored by the
various theories of translation (Newmark, 1995, pp. 38-56; Newmark, 2005, pp. 46-47).
The distinction of text types introduced by Peter Newmark is intensely extended as an analytical strategy by
Katharina Reiss (1983, pp. 18-23) and the typological approach which she represents. According to it, the
success of the translation mainly depends on whether the translator is aware of the type of the original text and
maintains the special features that condition it. The text types are grouped in three basic types: informative,
expressive, and operative texts. Each one’s characteristics are clearly depicted by their naming. The first type
aims at conveying information, so consequently the translation focuses on the precise communication of the
information content. The second type is featured by the existence of an artistic or aesthetic style and as a result the
translation has to respect the special characteristics of the original’s form. Finally, the third type aims at
persuading or dissuading, that is cajoling the reader, and as a consequence the translator’s job lies in achieving the
same impact on the reader as the original.
At the description of the aforementioned features the concept of Skopos is innate, a concept that becomes the
fundamental term of Christiane Nord’s (1997, p. 9) translation theory, who continues the thinking of Katharina
Reiss. Christiane Nord introduces the functionalist study and translation criticism. After having performed a
historical retrospect and reviewed other translation theorists of functionalism like Hans J. Vermeer, she presents
the “Theory of Action” and the “Skopostheorie/Theory of Skopos”. In the first case, translating is conceived as
“Intentional” and “Interpersonal Interaction”, as well as “Communicative” and “Intercultural Action”, also
entering the field of “Text-Processing”. In the second case, as one can understand by its naming, the “intention”
and the “aim (purpose, skopos)” of the original text are being studied as components of translation, along with the
abiding relationship with the “intratextual coherence”. Definitely the intratextual coherence is based on the
morphosyntactic rules of the target language that guide the text syntax.
Werner Koller (1992, pp. 214-236), who also forms part of the German “school”, comments on the
multi-used concept of equivalence (Äquivalenz), placing emphasis on denotative equivalence (denotative
Äquivalenz), and spots translation strategies (Übersetzungsverfahren) that consist of particular types of
correspondence (Entsprechungstypen): one-to-one correspondence (Eins-zu-eins-Entsprechung), one-to-many
correspondence or diversification (Eins-zu-viele-Entsprechung/Diversifikation), many-to-one correspondence or
neutralization (Viele-zu-eins-Entsprechung/Neutralisation), one-to-zero correspondence or blank
(Eins-zu-Null-Entsprechung/Lücke), one-to-part correspondence (Eins-zu-Teil-Entsprechung). There are five
suggested ways that the translator can adopt for the one-to-zero or blank correspondence: (1) adoption of the
expression in the source language from the target language, either in inverted commas without transliteration or
without inverted commas with transliteration according to the phonetic, graphemic, or/and morphologic rules of
the target language; (2) loan translation (Lehnübersetzung), where expressions of the source language are
translated word-for-word in the target language but the newly created expressions were not existent in the
language; (3) translation of the expression in the source language from an already existent in the target language
with a similar meaning, and primarily, the closest to the meaning of the original expression; (4) the expression of
the source language is translated with a word of explanation or annotation in the target language; and (5)
adjustment or adaptation, that is substitution of the registered expressions of the source language in specific
communicative situations, with a communicative verbal unit of the target language having a function and concept
similar to that of the original expression.
Apparently the above views focus on the communicative dimension of the translator. The work of Basil
Hatim and Ian Mason (1997, pp. 14-28) is considered to be within this framework, as obviously manifested by its
title. Moreover, they stress the communicative aspect of translation, consisting of six parameters which, in their
opinion, the translator should take into account and research: (1) cohesion; (2) coherence; (3) intentionality; (4)
situationality; (5) intertextuality; and (6) informativity. The first two parameters concern the purely verbal aspect
of translation, that is on a morphosyntactic level, the third and fourth the social—in a broader sense—aspect, and
the latter two the semantic.
Lots of theorists and researchers followed the functional and communicative study of translation. One of
them is Dirk Delabastita (1989), on whose work is based a significant part of the study and search of our
translation tool as it is going to be presented below. One can just note that in this case despite the modern
theoretical background the suggested typology derives from the ancient rhetorics. However, this is not something
striking given the fact that the art of rhetorics has mainly—let not say only—a communicative character, as
translation does. Furthermore, this happened with renowned success—naturally on a practical level—in the
historical beginnings of translation, as described before.
Translation as an Object of Special Texts Studies
Special texts study could not possibly be omitted from this paper. By the term “special texts”, we generally
refer to technical and scientific texts. According to Hann (1992, p. 7) contrary to other areas of translation, which
allow certain individuality on the part of the linguist with regard to lexicology and style, technical translation is
essentially a decision-making process involving selection of the correct target language rendering from a number
of different, context-dependent alternatives. A good literary translator strives to produce a target version which is
as elegant and readable as the original, but the technical translator’s main priorities are precision and
comprehensibility.
The approach of Pierre Lerat stands out when it comes to special text studies (1995, pp. 102-105). In his
treatise Les langues spécialisées, he dedicates a chapter to translation mostly insisting on issues related to
“terminology of specialized languages (jargon)” (“terminologie des langues spécialisées”). This does not mean
that he overlooks the general condition of special texts translation, since he mentions the concept of collocation
(“collocation”), which consists of three different perspectives, depending on the way of approach: pragmatic
(pragmatique), syntactic (syntaxique), and semantic (sémantique). Thus, Lerat (1995, p. 105) concludes to the
distinction amongst “communicative adequacy” (competence) (“adéquation communicative”), syntagmatic
combination (“combinaison syntagmatique”), and conceptual connectivity (“connectabilité conceptuelle”).
Regarding terminology, his argumentation as a whole aims at the formulation of guidelines for the creation of
“more linguistic terminological data bases” (“bases des données terminologiques plus linguistiques”).
Nevertheless, he openly points out the terminology management problem a translator is faced with, especially
when using bilingual or multilingual dictionaries or terminology databases. At this point, two crucial points of his
discussion are worth mentioning. Firstly, special-texts-translation increasingly concerns experts in the related to
the scientific field text who are largely bilingual. As far as the understanding of the text is concerned, they are the
best judges and, what is more, they are capable of knowing how to name in their respective professional or
scientific field. Therefore, the advantage of the special texts translator can only be linguistic. His second point lies
in a very representative phrase: “...in order to be scientific, special English cannot be anything less but English!”
(Lerat, 1995, p. 105). This means that in every case of scientific or special idiolect, one has to use the
morphosyntactic rules typical of the language of this idiolect.
The latter view contradicts another important approach to the study of special texts developed in the
Anglo-Saxon academic field. The main concept of this approach is “sublanguage”, having its own vocabulary as
well as its own “specialized grammar”, i.e., with its own morphosyntactic rules. This last property is definitely
not acceptable. There cannot be another grammar in the same language as if it were a different language! In any
case, the development of this theory regarded the automatic text processing and we theorize that the reasons for
that were the poor results out of full grammar use.
Linguistics
Linguistic terminology in the Greek language stems from the traditional terminology of literary and
historical studies which, in many cases, is of Greek origin and has been transferred unabridged into other
languages especially in English. Apart from that source, modern terminology comes mainly from translation
loans from languages other than Greek to which those who are involved in research and teaching in Greece have
to resort to (Babiniotis, 1998, pp. 15-18). Let us bear in mind that scientific terminology is a product of scientific
activity which, to a great extent, is conducted in and spread through the English language. Terminology
translation is quite often inappropriate as it detaches itself from generally accepted terms.
According to Xydopoulos (2002, pp. 495-506), all translated publications of linguistic texts in the Greek
language involve a certain amount of difficulty in their translation as well as in the consolidation of terminology,
while often they differ significantly from each other. The factors that contribute in this increased difficulty in the
translation and consolidation of terminology are the following: (1) existence of multiple terms in the Greek
language for the definition of a single foreign scientific term and (2) use of a single term as a translation of
various scientific terms which may have a small or even no relevance to each other.
The problem of linguistics terminology has occupied a line of linguists for many decades and has been
discussed thoroughly in academic papers in the past, where a handful of useful reflections were presented (for
example the need of unification of terminology, issues of translatability or acceptability, etc.). As early as 1984,
Petrounias (1984, pp. 30-32) describes factors that are related with questions of comprehension of Greek
scientific terminology and in a broader sense of linguistic terms: (1) Scientific terms change content more rapidly
than other words because scientific perceptions also change at the same pace; (2) It is quite likely that the term
has not been absolutely successful in its first creation; (3) There often exist terms which do not correspond
etymologically to their content; (4) When a term does not pass in a new language as a direct loan, but is translated
it is quite probable that an error occurs; and (5) In Greek, the possibilities of word formation via loans of Latin
origin are limited, compared to other European languages, because of the Greek scholar tradition.
It is true that these factors are still in effect today. For this reason we selected to study four of the most important
linguistic academic texts of the 20th century. More specifically, the following pairs of books were selected:
(a1) Martinet, André (1980), Éléments de linguistique générale, Paris, Librairie Armand Colin and (a2)
Χαραλαμπόπουλος, Αγαθοκλής (1987), Στοιχεία γενικής γλωσσολογίας, Θεσσαλονίκη, Ίδρυμα Μανόλη
Τριανταφυλλίδη (Charalampopoulos, Agathoklis (1987), Elements of General Linguistics, Thessaloniki,
Institution Manolis Triantafyllidis).
(b1) De Saussure, Ferdinand ([1916] 19685), Cours de linguistique générale, Paris-Lausanne, Payot and (b2)
Αποστολόπουλος, Φώτης Δ. (1979), Μαθήματα γενικής γλωσσολογίας, Αθήνα, Παπαζήσης (Apostolopoulos,
Fotis D. (1979). Courses of General Linguistics, Athens, Papazisis).
(c1) Chomsky, Noam (1957), Syntactic structures, Hague, Mouton and (c2) Καβουκόπουλος, Φώτης (1991),
Συντακτικές δομές, Αθήνα, Εκδόσεις Νεφέλη (Kavoukopoulos, Fotis (1991), Syntactic Structures, Athens,
Publications Nefeli.)
(d1) Lyons, John (1981), Language and Linguistics. An Introduction, Cambridge, University of Cambridge
and (d2) Αναστασιάδη-Συμεωνίδη, Άννα, Γαβριηλίδου Ζωή, Ευθυμίου Αγγελική (2003), Εισαγωγή στη
θεωρητική γλωσσολογία, Αθήνα, Εκδόσεις Μεταίχμιο (Anastasiadi-Symeonidi, Anna, Gabriilidou, Zoe,
Euthymiou, Angeliki (2003), Introduction to theoretical linguistics, Athens, Metaixmio Publications).
Study of Indexes
The extensive analysis of indexes presented in this paper was based on the translation strategies developed
by the Belgian translatologist Dirk Delabastita (1989, pp. 193-218). Delabastita based the development of his
strategies on the techniques used by the ancient Latin rhetoricians, as they were explained by Heinrich Lausberg
(1973, 1998) in his extensive presentation of the figures of speech used by ancient Greek rhetoricians. These
figures of speech were copied by the Latin rhetoricians, starting by Cicero. This typology includes the following
translation strategies:
(1) Repetitio: The sign is formally reproduced in an identical manner;
(2) Adiectio: The sign is reproduced with a certain addition;
(3) Detractio: The reproduction is incomplete, it implies a reduction;
(4) Transmutatio: The components of the signs are repeated in a somewhat different internal order, there
being an alteration of the sign’s textual relations;
(5) Substitutio: The sign is replaced with an altogether different sign.
All the above refer to the lexical, semantic and morphosyntactic level. Hence there is a variant of detractio,
where all the elements of the translation unit are erased. This case is considered a different strategy and is called
(6) deletio (deletion).
Finally, we added the term (7) non-translation1 for the following cases: (a) where the term is not translated,
1
As regards the term non-translation, it may be a term used in the translation theory to distinguish what is and what is not
translation. However, there is controversy between the academics as to the circumstances where this term is used. Based on the
definition given by the European Society for Translation Studies (EST), the term can refer to fragments of source text preserved in
the original language in the target text. Furthermore one of the subcategories classified as non translation is covered by the
definition given in the dictionary Translation Terminology (Publications Mesogios, Athens, 2008) for the term “direct transfer”.
not even transliterated but appears as it is in the source language; (b) where only part of the term is translated (e.g.,
a compound term which consists of two terms and has its first part kept in the source language without
transliteration while its second one is translated in the target language with the employment of one of the
aforementioned strategies); (c) where a term from the original index is omitted from the Greek index; (d) where
acronyms and proper names remain in the source language without transliteration; and (e) where the wrong
employment of one of the aforementioned strategies leads to a mistake in the translation of a term (Christidou,
2007, p. 36).
The aforementioned typology served as the basis for the study of the terms which were first studied as they
appear in the indexes and then processed as they appear in context within the texts. The recording of the terms
was done in the alphabetical order of the index in the source language. Term variations, when they appeared,
were mentioned under the same entry, even if they had been recorded originally in the book as different entries of
the same index. This was done to present the terms in their entirety and, consequently, analyze them in every
respect. If the Greek index contained extra terms that did not appear in the original index, those were recorded
separately. Then follows the explanation of the translation strategy employed, including comments on the
translation process. Moreover, a lexicographic and bibliographic research was performed, and, where necessary,
suggestions of more accurate translations were made. Finally a statistical recording of the frequency of
appearance of the translation strategies is presented which helps us come to conclusions regarding the
decision-making processes.
Index Processing
Examples of Index Processing
Table 1
Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics (John Lyons, 1995)
English term Greek term Translation strategy
(1) sentence-type (index, p. 145, p. 178 f., p. 218, (1) (ευρετήριο-)
(1) non translation
p. 441 f.) (2) 4.2.8, σ.187→τύπο πρότασης, γρ. 20
(2) transmutatio
(2) 4.2.8, p. 145, l. 32 (3) 5.2.6, σ.227→τύποι προτάσεων, γρ. 3
(3) repetitio
(3) 5.2.6, p. 178→types of sentences, l. 16 (4) 6.2.4, σ.274→της πρότασης του τύπου, γρ.
(4) repetitio
(4) 6.2.4, p. 218→of the sentence-type, l. 33 21
Comments-suggestions: (1) Ο όρος δεν παρατίθεται στο ελληνικό ευρετήριο; (2) Πραγματοποιείται
transmutatio με αντιστροφή της θέσης των όρων και αλλαγή του συντακτικού τους ρόλου. Το “sentence” από
επιθετικός προσδιορισμός στο “type” μετατρέπεται σε γενική της ιδιότητας “πρότασης”. Η απόδοση εδώ
συμφωνεί με αυτή του Σ. Δημητρίου στο Λεξικό Όρων Γλωσσολογίας; (3) Διατήρηση της λεξιλογικής
αντιστοιχίας; and (4) Διατήρηση της λεξιλογικής αντιστοιχίας με deletio, της πρόθεσης “of”.
Table 2
Éléments de linguistique générale (André Martinet, 1970)
French term Greek term Translation strategy
(1) Abrègement, index, 6-6→p. 177 l. (1) σύντμηση/Abrègement, ευρετήριο, 6.6-, (1) Repetitio
30, 6-14→p. 187 l. 18. 6.14→σ. 210, γ. 21 (2) Substitutio με παράλληλο
(2) Abrégée 6-6→p. 178 l. 30 (2) συντομευμένη 6.6→σ. 199 γ. 24 Transmutatio λόγω γλωσσικής προσαρμογής
Comments-suggestions: (1) Διατήρηση της λεξιλογικής αντιστοιχίας and (2) Παρατηρείται αλλαγή του
ίδιου του όρου μέσα στο κείμενο μέσω υποκατάστασης της λέξης. Η λέξη “συντομευμένη” είναι παθητική
μετοχή ενεστώτα σε θέση επιθέτου στη λέξη “μορφή”. Στο γαλλικό κείμενο, η λέξη “abrégée” είναι παθητική
μετοχή αορίστου σε θέση επιθέτου στη λέξη “forme”.
Frequency of Appearance Statistics of Translation Strategies
Table 3
Frequency of Appearance Statistics of Translation Strategies
Introduction to Syntactic Éléments de Cours de linguistique
Total
theoretical linguistics structures linguistique générale générale
Repetitio 2042 565 263 314 3184 78%
Transmutatio 168 85 37 90 380 9%
Non-translation 10 0 31 49 90 2%
Adiectio 66 15 4 2 87 2%
Detractio 21 19 0 0 40 1%
Deletio 11 0 0 1 12 0%
Substitutio 256 3 26 6 291 7%
2574 687 361 462 4084 100%
In conclusion, we can say that when it comes to the linguistic texts repetitio is the translation strategy which
prevails and this happens probably because (1) The translations of the original texts took place chronologically
far later than their writing so the translations of various terms in Greek were processed and solidified in the Greek
language through time and (2) the terms consist mainly of one word hence their translation is less problematic.
The second strategy in order of frequency of appearance was that of transmutatio. We might assume that this
was due to the different grammatical and syntactical structure of the languages involved which made shifts in
grammatical—mostly—categories obligatory. Greek language is a highly inflected language, French is a
moderately inflected one, and English is a weakly inflected one.
Questionnaire Research
As regards linguistic texts, we made a choice of terms which appeared in the translated texts and constituted
the basis for the creation of the questionnaires. These choices are called “Texts of reference” or “Terms” and are
placed in the first column of the table of the questionnaire. In the second column one can find the “Translated
texts”, the “Translations”, the “Terms”, or the “Definitions”. The third column contains the answers which have
the form of multiple choices A, B, or C. There are 12 questions in total (six for the English linguistic texts and six
for the French ones).
The questions are divided in two categories, the ones where the subjects are given three answers for a
question out of which one is correct while the other two are misleading (Tsopanoglou, 2000, p. 91) and those
where the subjects are given terms in their context with their corresponding translations and are asked to select
which one they consider correct. In the second category, which involves the recognition and use of a term within
its context, there are not any absolutely correct or wrong answers according to the Greek bibliography since we
are dealing here with terms for which in the past there has been intense dispute among linguists. In the present
paper, due to lack of space, we will selectively present three questions from the English language questionnaire
(1a-1b, 3 and 6) and three questions from the French one (1, 2, and 4) (More analytically cf. Christidou, 2014).
As far as the type of the questionnaire is concerned, it is a test of special abilities that aims to measure
specific knowledge in linguistic mainly level with scientific parameters. Its content is common for all research
subjects and its results are comparable. Moreover, in order to answer the questionnaire, the research subjects have
to match elements of the first column with the elements of the second one, fact which reduces, in a satisfactory
degree, the probability of answering randomly, ensuring in this way the reliability of the questionnaire. Its
validity is ensured by the fact that it has a time limit of 15 minutes. The homogeneity of subjects, who all share
knowledge of Linguistics, allows the generalization of conclusions, ensuring thus exterior validity to the
questionnaire. When all the answers-results are gathered, they are processed statistically leading consequently to
conclusions on the attitudes of the research subjects towards the use of the Greek language in Linguistics.
Distribution of Questionnaires and Demographics
The questionnaires, for the most part, were distributed in academic halls during lectures in the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, in the University of Western Macedonia in Florina. Some others were distributed to
teachers of English and French and translators, while a small part of the English and French questionnaires were
sent via email in various cities in Greece.
For the needs of this research, 102 questionnaires were distributed (51 for the English language and 51 for
the French language). The English questionnaires were answered by 23 subjects who were 20–25 years old, 11
who were 25–35 years old, and 17 who were 35 years old or older, 11 of whom were men and 40 were women.
All held a university degree while 11 of them also held a second degree. 14 of them have done postgraduate
studies in disciplines not relevant to linguistics, translation, or didactics while 18 of them have done postgraduate
studies relevant to linguistics, translation, or didactics. 19 have had professional experience in translation, 4 of
them have worked in a translation agency, while 17 have worked as free lance translators. Apart from the
knowledge of the English language, which was common for all 51 subjects, 19 had knowledge of French, while
35 of them knew also another foreign language.
On the other hand, the French questionnaires were answered by 26 subjects aged 20–25 years old, 10 who
were aged 25–35 years old, and 15 who were 35 years old or over. 4 of them were men while 47 were women. All
held a university degree while 7 of them also held a second degree. 7 of them have done postgraduate studies in
disciplines not relevant to linguistics, translation, or didactics while 12 of them have done postgraduate studies
relevant to linguistics, translation, or didactics. All 51 participants were Greek native speakers and 2 of them were
bilingual. 8 have had professional experience in translation, 2 of them have worked in a translation agency, while
8 have worked as free lance translators. Apart from the knowledge of the French language, which was common
for all 51 subjects, 42 had knowledge of English, while 21 of them knew also another foreign language.
English Questionnaires With Suggested Right Answers
Table 4
1st Question a & b - English
Text of reference Translations Answer
According to the excerpts below which do you think is
Οι γραμματικές της αρχαίας ελληνικής και της
the most appropriate translation of the term YES NO
λατινικής που αποτελούν βιβλία αναφοράς,
“accidence”?—Με βάση τα παρακάτω αποσπάσματα
καθώς και οι γραμματικές σύγχρονων γλωσσών
ποια θεωρείτε πως είναι η καταλληλότερη απόδοση του
που στηρίζονται στις κλασικές αρχές, Χ
όρου “accidence”;
διαιρούνται γενικά σε τρία μέρη και όχι σε δύο:
δηλαδή, στην κλίση (ή «τυπολογικό»), στην
The standard reference grammars of Greek and Latin,
παραγωγή (ή «σχηματισμό λέξεων») και στη
and the grammars of modern languages which are based
σύνταξη.
on classical principles, are generally divided into three
sections, not two: namely, into inflexion (or
«Η γραμματική ουσιαστικά είναι ίδια σε όλες τις
“accidence”), derivation (or “word-formation”) and
γλώσσες, παρόλο που ενδέχεται να ποικίλλει
syntax.
συμπτωματικά». Και αυτή η αντίληψη εξηγεί
τον παραδοσιακό όρο «συμβεβηκός» για αυτό
“Grammar is substantially the same in all languages,
που εμείς σήμερα ονομάζουμε «κλίση». Χ
even though it may vary “accidentally”. And it is this
(J. Lyons, Εισαγωγή στη Θεωρητική
conception which explains the traditional term
Γλωσσολογία, Μετάφραση: Άννα
“accidence” for what we are calling “inflexion”.
Αναστασιάδη-Συμεωνίδη, Ζωή Γαβριηλίδου,
(J. Lyons, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, pp.
Αγγελική Ευθυμίου σ. 246, σ. 250)
195, 198)
Figure 1. Statistics of question 1a.

Figure 2. Statistics of question 1b.
Table 5
3rd Question - English
Term Translations Answer
Which of the following three translations do you think that is most appropriate
for the term “agent”?—Ποια από τις τρεις μεταφράσεις θεωρείτε πως είναι η
καταλληλότερη για την απόδοση του “agent”;
(Α) Δράστης Β
“Both intransitive and transitive sentences in English may answer the implicit
question ‘What does X do?’, where X is a nominal expression and do (in its
(Β) Ποιητικό αίτιο
occurrence in the question) is a ‘pro-verb’ which brings together intransitive
verbs, on the one hand, and transitive verbs + their objects, on the other.
(Γ) Ενεργούν πρόσωπο
Whenever this condition holds the subject may be described as the ‘actor’ (or
‘agent’)”.
(J. Lyons, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, p. 340)
Figure 3. Statistics of question 3.

Table 6
6th Question - English
Text of reference Translation Answer
Based on the definitions below which do you think is the most appropriate
translation of the term “clause”?—Με βάση τα παρακάτω ποια θεωρείτε πως είναι
η καταλληλότερη απόδοση του όρου “clause”;
(Α) Φράση Β
“Clause: A term used in some models of grammar to refer to a unit of grammatical
organization smaller than the sentence, but larger than phrases, words or
(Β) Πρόταση
morphemes.”
«Πρόταση είναι το τμήμα του λόγου που αποτελείται από ένα ονοματικό μέρος
(Γ) Μη ανεξάρτητη
και ένα ρηματικό μέρος.»
πρόταση
«Φράση είναι το σύνολο λέξεων που αποτελεί μια συντακτική ενότητα.»
(D. Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics)
(Γ.Μπαμπινιώτης Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας)
Identification of Phrase Appropriateness

In the first question all the participants, independently of their level of studies or professional experience in
translation, showed a greater preference to the translation “τυπολογικό” compared to “συμβεβηκός” which was
not considered so appropriate, as the answers to question 1b also showed. According to the Dictionary of
Linguistic and Phonetics by Crystal, the term “accidence” refers to the variations of the structure of a word which
express grammatical concepts such as, case, number, tense, or gender. In Linguistics, these phenomena consist
primarily an object of morphology that faces them as a process of word formation. On the other hand, as far as
“συμβεβηκός” is concerned, Babiniotis in his Dictionary of Modern Greek Language mentions that
“συμβεβηκός” is the casual event or fact. We presume that those who selected “συμβεβηκός” were probably
influenced by the English word “accident”, i.e., “ατύχημα”, which, nonetheless, in this particular case is not
related to that being described in a linguistic context by the term accident, as it has been already mentioned.
In the third question the translations “Ενεργούν πρόσωπο” and “Ποιητικό αίτιο” were those that have been
almost equally preferred as the cumulative comparison of results show, whereas the option “Δράστης” has been
selected only by 3.9%. The only category that presented a great diversion in the results was the one of
undergraduate students of the English Department where the 68.8% opted for “Ποιητικό αίτιο” versus 25% who
opted for “Ενεργούν πρόσωπο”. The option “Δράστης” collected the smallest percentage in this category, too.
Those who support the version “Ενεργούν πρόσωπο” limit the meaning of the term “agent”, since “agent” in a
sentence can be a “person”, as much as a concept, a natural phenomenon, or a thing. For example, in the sentence
“The city was destroyed by the earthquake”, the translations of “agent” as “δράστης” or “ενεργούν πρόσωπο” are
restrictive as they do not translate the term correctly.
In the sixth question a large diversification in the answers was observed. In cumulative results the option “μη
ανεξάρτητη πρόταση” prevailed with a percentage of 47.1% versus 29.4% of the option “φράση” and 23.5% of
the option “πρόταση”. In the classification according to professional experience, the translations “φράση” and
“μη ανεξάρτητη πρόταση” collected the percentage of 38.5% whereas the option “πρόταση” the percentage
23.1%. The undergraduate students of the Department of English Language and Literature also preferred equally
the translations “φράση” and “μη ανεξάρτητη πρόταση” with a percentage of 37.5%, whereas the rest 25%
showed a preference towards the translation “πρόταση”. In the category of the holders of post graduate degrees
the option “φράση” dominated over the other two translations with a percentage of 45.5%. Those studying in the
Interdisciplinary Program of Post-graduate Studies in Translation adopted the option “πρόταση” at a 50%
percentage whereas the option “φράση” received 20% and the option “μη ανεξάρτητη πρόταση” 30%. The
category of students of the Department of Primary Education the option “μη ανεξάρτητη πρόταση” was preferred
by the participants with a percentage of 57.1% whereas the other two translations “φράση” και “πρόταση”
received 14.3% and 28.6% respectively. Here, it is evident that there is a difference in the way the English
grammar perceives the term “clause” and in the way that this term is translated in the Greek grammar, despite the
fact it comprehends the same meaning. According to the Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics by Crystal, the
term refers to a unit of grammatical organization that is smaller than the sentence, but larger than phrases, words,
or morphemes. Crystal (2008) goes on saying that these units are traditionally classified into main or subordinate
clauses and adduces a representative example of both: “The girl arrived/after the rain started” (p. 78). In the same
dictionary, on the section “phrase” it is reported that, as part of a structural hierarchy, the term “phrase” falls
between clause and word, and additionally, on the section “sentence” is reported that the term “sentence” is the
largest structural unit in terms of which the grammar of a language is organized. Therefore, in English, starting
with the largest structural language unit and going to the smallest, the hierarchy is formed as follows: “sentence”,
“clause”, and “phrase”. However, in Greek, this distinction takes place with two structural units, the sentence and
the next smallest, the phrase. Based on the Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek of Manolis Triandaphyllidis
Foundation, a sentence is a group of words organized syntactically, having a verb as a prerequisite that expresses
only one meaning usually formulated in short. As Dimitriou mentions in the Dictionary of Linguistic Terms that the
simple form of a period (in the Greek sense) is called a sentence. According to traditional Linguistics, a sentence
consists of a noun (subject) and a verb (predicate) and can constitute a full message, consequently it has a logical
structure whereas a phrase has only got a syntactic structure (Dimitriou, 1994, p. 86, Vol. Α). In the online
dictionary The Free Dictionary, the definition of clause is mentioned that clause is a group of words consisting of
a subject and a predicate, including a finite verb, and which does not necessarily constitute a sentence.
Additionally, the Dictionary of Modern Greek Language by Babiniotis reports that, practically, instead of the
term “period” the term “sentence” (“πρόταση”) is used. In the Greek-English Dictionary of Linguistic Terms by
Dimitriou the term “sentence” is rendered as “period-sentence”, and the term “clause” is rendered as “sentence”.
Thereafter, all the definitions indicate that the term “sentence” and the term “clause” are translated in Greek
with the term “sentence” (“πρόταση”). It is likely that some of the participants were mislead by their knowledge
on “relative clauses” or the “wh-clauses” which are secondary clauses and consequently non-independent, and
for this reason they chose the option “μη ανεξάρτητη πρόταση”. The previous analysis makes clear that the
confusion about the translation of the term “clause” grew from the difference on this particular issue between the
Greek and the English syntax, and the different opinions amongst the linguists.
Presentation of Questionnaires With Suggested Correct Answers
Table 7
1st Question - French
Text of Reference Term Answer
Mais qu’est-ce que la langue? Pour nous elle ne se confond pas Α) Γλώσσα και ομιλία
Which of the three translation
avec le langage; elle n’est qu’une partie déterminée, essentielle,
versions do you consider as the most
il est vrai. C’est à la fois un produit social de la faculté du
appropriate for the terms “la langue” Β) Λόγος και ομιλία
langage et un ensemble de conventions nécessaires; adoptées par
and “le langage”?
le corps social pour permettre l’exercice de cette faculté chez les
Ποια από τις τρεις μεταφράσεις
individus. Γ) Γλώσσα και λόγος
θεωρείτε πως είναι η καταλληλότερη
(F. de Saussure (1979). Cours de linguistique générale, édition
για την απόδοση των la langue” και
critique préparée par Tullio de Mauro, Paris, Editions
“le langage”;
Payothèque, p. 25.)

Table 8
2nd Question - French
(Α) Οι αναφωνήσεις που συγγενεύουν πολύ με τις In your opinion, which is the best
ονοματοποιίες προσφέρονται σε ανάλογες translation of the term
Les exclamations très voisines des παρατηρήσεις και δεν είναι πιο επικίνδυνες για τη “l’exclamation” according to the
onomatopées, donnent lieu à des θέση μας. French text of reference?—Κατά τη
remarques analogues et ne sont pas (F. de Saussure, Μαθήματα Γενικής γλωσσολογίας, γνώμη σας, ποια είναι η
plus dangereuses pour notre thèse. Μετάφραση- Επιμέλεια: Φ. Δ. Αποστολόπουλος, καταλληλότερη
(F. de Saussure (1979). Cours de (1979). Εκδόσεις Παπαζήση, σ. 102. ) απόδοση του όρου “l’exclamation”,
linguistique générale, édition (Β)Τα επιφωνήματα που συγγενεύουν πολύ με τις σύμφωνα με το γαλλικό κείμενο
critique préparée par Tullio de ονοματοποιίες προσφέρονται σε ανάλογες αναφοράς;
Mauro, Paris, Editions Payothèque, παρατηρήσεις και δεν είναι πιο επικίνδυνα για τη Α)
p. 102.) θέση μας.
(Γαλλο-ελληνικό λεξικό ΚΑΟΥΦΜΑΝ, Librairie Β)
Kauffmann, Αθήνα, 2004.) X

Table 9
3rd Question - French
Συχνά θεωρήθηκε ότι οι In your opinion, which is the best translation
On a souvent considéré les processus de
διαδικασίες ανανέωσης των in Greek of the term “le langage affectif”
renouvellement des moyens linguistiques comme
γλωσσικών μέσων based on the texts and its definition in the
se plaçant en marge du fonctionnement normal de
τοποθετούνται στο περιθώριο French language?—Κατά τη γνώμη σας,
la langue. On a même voulu y voir les
της κανονικής λειτουργίας της ποια είναι η καταλληλότερη απόδοση στα
manifestations d’un langage affectif distinct du
γλώσσας. Μερικοί μάλιστα ελληνικά του όρου “le langage affectif”
langage grammatical.
προχώρησαν ως το σημείο να τις σύμφωνα με τα κείμενα και τον ορισμό της
(Α. Μartinet (1991). Eléments de linguistique
δουν ως τα φανερώματα μιας στη γαλλική γλώσσα;
générale ,Troisième édition Editions Armand
αφεκτιβικής γλώσσας
Colin, 1991, p. 193.)
διαφορετικής από τη γραμματική Α) Συναισθηματικός Λόγος
Définition du terme “le langage affectif”:
γλώσσα.
“On appelle langage affectif ou expressif celui
(Α. Μartinet (1991). Στοιχεία
qui traduit l’intérêt personnel que nous prenons à
γενικής γλωσσολογίας, Β) Συναισθηματική Γλώσσα
nos paroles par une manifestation naturelle et
Μετάφραση-Επιμέλεια: Α. Λ.
spontanée des formes subjectives de la pensée”.
Χαραλαμπόπουλος, Ινστιτούτο
J. Dubois, M. Giacomo, L. Guespin, C. Marcellesi,
Νεοελληνικών σπουδών, ΑΠΘ, Γ) Εκφραστικός Λόγος
J-B Marcellesi; J-P. Mével, Dictionnaire de
19973 , σ. 217.)
linguistique, Editions Larousse, 2002, p. 20. X
Identification of Phrase Appropriateness

In the first question of the French questionnaire regarding the rendering of “langue” και “langage” the
results were somehow justified and expected, keeping in mind that there is not a complete identification in the
translation of these terms as mentioned before. Statistically, the most popular choice was the option “Γλώσσα και
λόγος” with a cumulative percentage of 56.9%, followed by the option “Γλώσσα και ομιλία” with a 41.2%
percentage, while the option “Λόγος και ομιλία” came third with a percentage of 2%. In the rest of the
classifications, the option “Γλώσσα και λόγος” collected the highest percentage whereas the option “Λόγος και
ομιλία” collected the lowest. The only exception to this was the category “Greek-French Postgraduate” in which
the option “Γλώσσα και ομιλία” collected a percentage of 87.5% versus the 12.5% percentage of “Γλώσσα και
λόγος”. We can conclude that the students of the Greek-French Postgraduate Program were possibly influenced
by the fact that in Greek the term “speech” often has the same meaning as the term “logos” (“λόγος”), as the
dictionaries of Babiniotis and Triandaphyllidis Foundation also mention. In Larousse’s French-to-French
Terminology Dictionary, on the “langage” entry, this term is defined as the natural ability of man to communicate
via a system of phonetic signals (i.e., the tongue as an instrument) activating a complex body technique and
presupposes the existence of a symbolic operation and of the necessary by birth phonetic organs. In the same
dictionary, on the “langue” entry, the term is defined as a tool of communication, a system of specific phonetic
signals adopted by the members of a particular community.
In the second question of the French questionnaire and regarding the rendering of “exclamation”, it is a fact
that all of the participants, both in the cumulative results and in each separate category, opted for the option
“επιφωνήματα” instead of the option “αναφωνήσεις”. The respective definitions in the dictionary of Manolis
Triandaphyllidis Foundation are as follows: “Αναφώνηση” is the figure of speech that consists of the interference
of exclamatory words or phrases in speech that bear the concept of invocation, wish, expression of admiration, etc.
Exclamation is a voice or a non-inflected word that shows great emotion or feeling. The definitions presented in
the Larousse dictionary are similar. The research in the aforementioned dictionary and also in the Greek-French
Dictionary of the Tsigaridas Publications showed that the word “interjection” is used for the rendering of the
word “επιφώνημα”. It is probable that the participants were misled by the fact that the fine distinction between
“αναφώνηση” and “επιφώνημα” is not mentioned in traditional grammars.
In the fourth question of the French questionnaires regarding the correct identification, knowledge or use of
the term “langage affectif”, the correct option C (“Εκφραστικός λόγος”) won the majority of the participants’
preferences. In the cumulative results the option A collected a percentage of 31.4% and the option B a percentage
of 7.4%, while C prevailed with a 60.8% percentage. The results in each separate category were the same with the
exception of the students of the Early Childhood Education Department who gave a 60% percentage for the
option A, and a 20% percentage for the other two options. According to the Larousse Linguistic Dictionary, the
term “langage affectif” is defined as “that which is perceived as the personal interest that derives from our words
through a natural and spontaneous manifestation of subjective forms of thinking” (Dubois, Giacomo, Guespin,
Marcellesi, Marcellesi, & Mével, 2002, p. 20).
General Review-Questionnaires
Through the processing of the questionnaires and the indexes but also through private conversations with
experienced professional translators, we concluded that the translation of academic linguistic texts into the Greek
language is a very difficult occupation due to the need for very high precision and clarity in translating the related
terms.
We must admit, however, that the level of students, as revealed through the rest of their answers, was quite
high. Regarding the English questionnaires, from a total of six questions, only two were answered incorrectly,
highlighting in such way the failure to identify the correct translation of the relevant terms (Question 2 and
Question 6).
Regarding the first question, we believe that this is due to the large dispute about the subject that still exists
amongst the Greek linguists. In the second case, we assume that the respondents failed to locate the correct
answer since they did not have the opportunity to attend contrastive linguistics courses during their studies. We
believe that it would be particularly useful since, in this way, students will be able to understand better the pair of
language systems in which they will be involved in the future, i.e., (1) their native language, of course and (2) the
foreign language which they will be required to teach or to translate in the future.
We believe, therefore, that mastering the mother language, which is very often underestimated by the
trainees in translation, by the professional translators themselves but also by their employers (Schäffner & Adab
2000, p. 7), is, for a future translator, a skill as important as the knowledge of the foreign language, since
mastering the latter is not sufficient for the successful accomplishment of the translator’s profession. In the
present case, we believe that the training English teachers or the training translators would be able to solve
successfully all the translation problems without any exception that had been set before them through the
questionnaires if the aforementioned conditions existed.
Additionally, we believe that the future translators should specialize in one scientific field (Schäffner &
Adab, 2000, p. 4) and should focus practicing, of course, on a particular text type further more as it is not possible
to become experts in everything. Perhaps the occupation with translation at undergraduate level should not focus
only on literature but several fields should exist such as telecommunications, medicine, law, or finance, always of
course conforming to the market needs.
As far as the French questionnaires are concerned, we have to say that the level of respondents was also very
high. Out of a total of six questions, only two were answered incorrectly (Question 1 and Question 2). Concerning
the first question (identification of correct translation), we believe that the respondents were not aware of the fine
distinction between the proposed terms (i.e., exclamation) and therefore they chose the wrong answer. We
consider that the suggestions and comments of English questionnaires regarding the education and practice of
translators can also apply here.
What we can observe in both languages is that unresolved terminology issues (e.g., langue - langage - parole)
do not have satisfactory and generally acceptable translation versions and even today different solutions are
sought.
Conclusion
The results of the questionnaires showed a diversification of attitudes and choices of the translators of
academic books and the research subjects and proved our hypothesis concerning the translation problem of
linguistic terms in the Greek language as well as the controversy that exists in their translation. It would prove
useful to extend the text sample to investigate the consolidation of the various terms in order that the
understanding and deliberate use of translation strategies are achieved for creating terminology databases in each
field by the translator himself.
One can observe that problematic terminology issues have not received adequate and generally acceptable
translation options and even today different solutions are sought. Also, in the context of theoretical linguistics,
terms which are ambiguous, are used with different meaning depending on the context (e.g.,
grammar—generative, traditional, descriptive, universal, and so on). We believe that the Greek theorists of
linguistics should use, where possible, a uniquely identified terminology and should surely try, where necessary,
to introduce into the Greek language neologisms with Greek and not “turned-into-Greek” words.
Epilogue
The survey with questionnaires indicates that on the part of the scientists there is a strong desire to build
consensus and hence a standardized Greek terminology both in Linguistics and in the Telecommunications
domain and that this constitutes a top priority. In particular, at university level, this should constitute a primary
concern.
Those who will promote science in the future are being prepared by the academic community and it is
necessary to teach them the use of national terminology, but above all the right use of the Greek language. Taking
into account of course the current economic downturn of Greece but not ignoring the great importance of the use
of the Greek language and the necessity that the Greek scientists have to be able to communicate in their native
language, we believe that the state should ensure the existence of specialized translators in various university
departments or even the creation of an official national body which will take on the task of verification,
production, and dissemination of terminology issues in university departments.
We believe that a result of this suggestion, would not only be the promotion of Greek language and
terminology at national level but also the reassurance of a better and more effective communication between
scientists, as well as the improvement of the provided teaching to students who will be able to study, through
translation, the foreign-language bibliography without encountering ambiguities and problematic terms with
double or even triple translation versions. Furthermore, we need to mention that the model of the present paper
could be applied to other languages, such as German, provided that the inflow of terms and the need for text
translation are great due to the economic and industrial development of this country and the impact it has on the
Greek economy.
We hope that this paper will contribute towards this direction and that the resulting data will lead to better
training of scientists and official translators as well as contribute to more efficient and qualitative science
handbooks, bilingual glossaries, and terminology databases.
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doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.007
D DAVID PUBLISHING
On the Translation of “pride” in Pride and Prejudice
LI Xiu-li
China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
Being the most important word in Pride and Prejudice, “pride” occurs so many times in the novel. The paper
mainly examines seven translators’ renditions of two dialogues in the novel and points out that the varied
renderings of “pride” in different places of the novel by each of the translators ruin the cohesive and coherent texts.
These renderings range from being derogatory to neutral and to commendatory: 傲慢, 高傲, 骄傲, 自尊, and 尊
严. The paper argues that three factors are likely to account for the wrong renderings. Firstly, the Chinese title of
the novel, though looking perfect with 傲慢 rhyming nicely with 偏见, may have served as a blindfold, rendering
the translators oblivious of their evident mistakes. Secondly, the Chinese translators failed to obtain an insightful
interpretation of Darcy’s pride and the wrong renderings blur the distinction between Darcy’s pride and Lady
Catherine’s arrogance or insolence. Thirdly, the coherent and narrative functions of repetition were not fully valued
by the translators of the novel. The paper contends that the rendering of “pride” as 傲慢 is very often
inappropriate. 傲慢 is a strong critique that refers to a person’s overbearing and disrespectful attitude or behavior,
whereas “pride” used to depict Darcy carries a less derogatory connotation. In addition, Darcy’s pride has two parts.
Externally his proud manners can be “repulsive” to other people while internally his pride relates more to his
opinion of himself. The paper then suggests that “pride” be rendered as 骄傲 all the way through the whole novel.
Keywords: pride, Pride and Prejudice, repetition, translation, coherence
Introduction
Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice has always been very popular among Chinese readers and
scholars, and a large amount of literature can be found on studies of English-Chinese translation of the novel.
However, little work has been done on the translation of the word “pride” in the novel. After a careful
comparative study of the novel in its original and Chinese form, it has become clear to me that the word “pride”
has caused big problems for Chinese translators. Being the most important word in Pride and Prejudice,
“pride” occurs a great number of times in the novel but is rendered differently in different places of the novel,
even within one single conversation.
The functions of repetition have been well studied by scholars at every level of discourse from
phonological elements to theme and to genre and form. Anderson (1994) and Kirby (2009) examine the
narrative functions of repetition in the Bible. Halliday and Hason (2001), HU Zhuang-lin (1984), ZHANG
De-lu and LIU Ru-shan (2003), and ZHU Yong-sheng, ZHENG Li-xin, and MIAO Xing-wei (2001) analyze
how repeated words help to make a cohesive or coherent text. Studies have also been done by Chinese scholars
on the translation of repeated words, but some of them are not valid. JING Su-rong (2010) examines two
frequently repeated words “innovation” and “time” in Bacon’s Of Innovation and points out that these two
LI Xiu-li, Associate Professor, M.A., School of Foreign Languages, China University of Political Science and Law.

150 ON THE TRANASLATION OF “PRIDE” IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
words have the rhetorical function of highlighting the theme of the prose and each of them should have been
rendered as one Chinese equivalent rather than several in each of the four Chinese versions examined in her
paper. JING’s analysis is valid, but when it comes to the translation of the repeated word “pride” in Pride and
Prejudice, more detailed and comprehensive work needs to be done. ZHOU Tian (2007) argues that flexibility
is allowed on certain occasions though theoretically repeated words should be kept the same way in a translated
work as it is in the original. ZHOU illustrates her points by saying that in the conversation about Darcy’s pride
between Elizabeth and her friend and family “pride” shall be rendered as the derogatory 傲慢 (arrogance)
when uttered by Mrs. Bennet and the neutral 骄傲 (pride) when uttered by Miss Lucas. ZHOU’s argument is
that Mrs. Bennet and Miss Lucas have very different attitudes towards Darcy. This paper will explain why
ZHOU’s analysis is not compelling at all.
In the following parts of the paper, two significant examples of wrong renderings of “pride” will be
showcased. These examples will be taken from seven Chinese versions of the novel published in Mainland
China and Taiwan over a period of more than 50 years from 1955 to 2011. The Chinese versions of the novel
are the works of WANG Ke-yi, ZHANG Ling and ZHANG Yang, SUN Zhi-li, FANG Hua-wen, LIU Pei-fang
and DENG Sheng-ming, DONG Liu, and LE Xuan. It needs to be mentioned that Wang’s version is the earliest
version and came out in 1955. The possible causes of the mistaken renderings will then be analyzed. Finally a
better rendering of “pride” will be proposed.
Instances of Wrong Renderings of “pride”

Pride is a character trait, “a very common failing” (to quote Mary, one of the daughters of Mr. and Mrs.
Bennet). The word “pride” is used in the novel mainly to depict Darcy, though it is sometimes used to describe
Mr. Collins (who is “a mixture of pride and obsequiousness”) or Elizabeth (who makes the utterance “I, who
have prided myself on my discernment”). There are a great number of instances in the Chinese versions of the
novel where “pride” is mistakenly rendered and the paper illustrates the mistakes using two most significant
dialogues regarding Darcy’s pride. The first example is taken from the dialogue between Elizabeth and
Wickham about Darcy’s pride in Chapter 16, volume 1 of the novel, and the second one from the dialogue
between Elizabeth and her friend and family in Chapter 4, volume 1. To save space, for each dialogue only one
Chinese rendition is fully presented, and the different renderings of “pride” in the seven Chinese versions are
shown in Table 1 and Table 2. (The underscores and superscripts in the examples are mine.) See dialogue 1 and
its Chinese renditions below.
“How strange!” cried Elizabeth. “How abominable! —I wonder that the very pride1 of this Mr. Darcy has not made
him just to you! —If from no better motive, that he should not have been too proud2 to be dishonest, —for dishonesty I
must call it”.
“It is wonderful,” —replied Wickham, —“for almost all his actions may be traced to pride3; —and pride4 has often
been his best friend. It5 has connected him nearer with virtue than any other feeling. But we are none of us consistent; and
in his behaviour to me, there were stronger impulses even than pride6”.
“Can such abominable pride7 as his, have ever done him good?”
“Yes. It has often led him to be liberal and generous, —to give his money freely, to display hospitality, to assist his
tenants, and relieve the poor. Family pride8, and filial pride9, for he is very proud10 of what his father was, have done this.
Not to appear to disgrace his family, to degenerate from the popular qualities, or lose the influence of the Pemberley House,
is a powerful motive. He has also brotherly pride11, which with some brotherly affection, makes him a very kind and
careful guardian of his sister; and you will hear him generally cried up as the most attentive and best of brothers”. (Austen,
2003, p. 67)

ON THE TRANASLATION OF “PRIDE” IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 151
伊丽莎白叫道: “多奇怪! 多可恶! 我真不明白, 这位达西先生既然这样有自尊心1, 怎么又这样亏待你! 要是没

有别的更好的理由, 那么, 他既是这么骄傲2, 就应该不屑于这样阴险……—我一定要说是阴险”。
“的确稀奇”, 韦翰回答道: “归根结底来说, 差不多他的一切行动都是出于傲慢3, 傲慢4成了他最要好的朋友。照
说他既然傲慢5, 就应该最讲求道德。可是人总免不了有自相矛盾的地方, 他对待我就是意气用事多于傲慢6”。
“象他这种可恶的傲慢7, 对他自己有什么好处?”
“有好处: 常常使他做起人来慷慨豪爽……花钱不吝啬, 待人殷勤, 资助佃户, 救济贫苦人。他所以会这样, 都
是因为门第祖先使他感到骄傲8, 他对于他父亲的为人也很引为骄傲10。他主要就是为了不要有辱家声, 有违众望,
不要失掉彭伯里族的声势。他还具有做哥哥身份的骄傲11, 这种骄傲, 再加上一些手足的情份, 使他成了他妹妹的
亲切而细心的保护人; 你自会听到大家都一致赞他是位体贴入微的最好哥哥”。(WANG, 2006, pp. 79-80)
Table 1
Inconsistent Renditions of “pride” in Dialogue 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
W 自尊心骄傲傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢骄傲 ○ 骄傲骄傲
Z&Z 高傲高傲傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢骄傲自豪骄傲
S 骄傲骄傲傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢自尊自尊引以为豪自尊
F 傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢 ○ ○ 傲慢自尊
L 自尊心骄傲傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢骄傲 ○ 骄傲骄傲
D 傲慢傲慢骄傲骄傲 ○ 傲慢傲慢骄傲 ○ 为荣骄傲
L&D 骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲 ○ ○ 骄傲骄傲骄傲 ○ 骄傲
Dialogue 2 and its Chinese rendition are as follows.

“I do not believe a word of it, my dear. If he had been so very agreeable, he would have talked to Mrs. Long. But I
can guess how it was; everybody says that he is ate up with pride1, and I dare say he had heard somehow that Mrs. Long
does not keep a carriage, and had come to the ball in a hack chaise”
“His pride2”, said Miss Lucas, “does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One
cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of
himself3. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud4”.
“That is very true”, replied Elizabeth, “and I could easily forgive his pride5, if he had not mortified mine6”.
“Pride7”, observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the solidity of her reflections, “is a very common failing I believe.
By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it,
and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other,
real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be
proud8 without being vain. Pride9 relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of
us”.
“If I were as rich as Mr. Darcy”, cried a young Lucas who came with his sisters, “I should not care how proud10 I was.
I would keep a pack of foxhounds, and drink a bottle of wine every day”. (Austen, 2003, p. 21)
“亲爱的, 你刚说的我一个字都不信。如果他真这么讨人喜欢, 他应该会去和隆格太太说话。但我能猜到是什

么情形; 每个人都说他骄傲1得不得了, 我敢说他多少有听到隆格太太没坐自己马车去, 而是临时雇了一辆赶去”。
“他的傲慢2”, 庐卡斯小姐说, “并不像一般情形一样冒犯到我。这样一位有着好家室, 财富且样样条件都胜过别
人的优秀年轻人, 也难怪要自视甚高3。我觉得他有骄傲4的权利”。 “那倒是真的”, 伊丽莎白说, “而且我很容易就
原谅他的傲慢5, 如果他没损及我6就好”。
“傲慢7”, 玛丽评论着, 她觉得自己的见解扎实而提高了兴致, “我相信是一般人的通病。就我读过的资料看来,
我确信它真的很普通。人性真的很容易向它屈服, 只有少数人不会因具有某种真实或相像的特质而不去珍惜那种自

我满足的感觉。虚荣和傲慢是两件不同的事, 虽然这两个字常被视作一样的意思。一个人可以高傲8而不自负。傲
慢9比较是我们对自己的看法, 自负则是我们在他人心中的印象”。
“如果我像达西先生一样富有”, 庐卡斯小姐年轻的弟弟嚷道, “我才不会在意自己多骄傲10。我会养一堆猎犬,
而且一天喝一瓶酒”。(LIU & DENG, 2006, pp. 19-20)
Table 2
Inconsistent Renditions of “pride” in Dialogue 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
W 骄傲骄傲自以为了不起骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲
Z&Z 傲慢骄傲过高估计自己骄傲傲气傲气骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲
S 傲慢骄傲自以为了不起骄傲骄傲自尊心骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲
F 傲慢傲慢自以为了不起摆摆架子傲慢尊严傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢
L 骄傲骄傲自以为了不起骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲骄傲
D 自高自大傲慢骄傲自豪傲慢自尊高傲高傲高傲傲慢
L&D 骄傲傲慢自视甚高骄傲傲慢 ○ 傲慢高傲傲慢骄傲
Analysis of the Wrong Renderings of “pride”

As can be seen from the two instances presented above, “pride” is rendered as five Chinese words. 傲慢,
高傲, 骄傲, 自尊, and 尊严. Before analyzing the mistakes in the Chinese renditions, it is necessary to
examine the different connotations of these five Chinese words. These words can be used either as a noun or
adjective and range from being derogatory to neutral and to commendatory: 傲慢 (insolence), 高傲
(arrogant/proud loneliness/proud and dignified bearing), 骄傲 (pride), 自尊 (self-respect), and 尊严
(dignity). 傲慢 is a strong critique that refers to a person’s overbearing and disrespectful attitude or behavior.
It often occurs in expressions like 傲慢自大 and 傲慢无礼. 高傲, as well as 骄傲, has flexible connotations.
Very often 高傲 carries a derogatory connotation except on a few occasions. When used to describe a woman
高傲 can be neutral or commendatory and always commendatory when used to refer to 梅花 (plum blossom)
or used figuratively as in “高傲的头颅, 自豪的脊梁”. 自尊 and 尊严 have commendatory connotations.
Consequences of the Wrong Renderings of “pride”
The different renderings of “pride” in both of the two dialogues create problems. The main problem lies in
Chinese reader’s mistaken yet justifiable impression that the characters are either taking about different things
or constantly correcting themselves or one another. In the original novel, however, these characters are engaged
in smooth and coherent conversations. In dialogue 1, “pride” is repeated 10 times if its adjective form and
pronoun form also count. Clearly the repetition of “pride” fulfils the function of keeping the dialogue cohesive
and coherent. Readers of the English version of the novel can easily see that Elizabeth and Wickham are talking
about the same thing: Darcy’s pride. In WANG’s Chinese version, however, Elizabeth shifts from the
commendatory 自尊心 to the neutral/slightly derogatory 骄傲 and then to the derogatory 傲慢 while
Wickham shifts from 傲慢 to 骄傲. Similar mistakes occur in all of the seven Chinese versions except in LIU
and DENG’s version, where “pride” is rendered as 骄傲 almost all the way through the conversation . In LIU
and DENG’s rendition of dialogue 2, however, “pride” is unfortunately rendered as several different Chinese
words. This proves that the renditions by LIU and DENG are not governed by a clear understanding of the
word “pride” or its cohesive function. The same is true with the renditions of WANG and LE. In dialogue 2

“pride” is rendered by these two translators into 骄傲 all the way through, whereas in their renditions of
dialogue 1 “pride” is rendered as several different Chinese words.
Another problem arises when a simple comment by a character of the novel is made totally illogical and
ridiculous owing to the wrong rendering of “pride”. This problem is best exemplified in the disastrous
rendering of Wickham’s comment “It (pride) has connected him nearer with virtue” into “傲慢使他比较注重
道德” (insolence has connected him nearer with virtue) in five of the seven Chinese versions examined in the
paper. What is equally unacceptable is that this comment is simply ignored and deleted in the other two
Chinese versions. A less common mistake is found in the rendering of Mary’s comment “Pride relates more to
our opinion of ourselves”. This comment is rendered as “傲慢比较是我们对自己的看法” (insolence relates
more to our opinion of ourselves) in two of the seven renditions of dialogue 2, whereas it is obvious that 傲慢
是别人对我们的看法 (insolence relates to how others look at us).
Possible Reasons Behind the Wrong Renderings of “pride”
There are three possible reasons behind the wrong renderings of “pride” in the seven Chinese versions of
the novel. Firstly, Chinese translators failed to obtain an insightful interpretation of Darcy’s pride and thus their
renderings blur the distinction between Darcy’s pride and his aunt’s “arrogance”, “conceit”, or “insolence” (to
quote Wickham). In fact, Darcy’s pride has two parts. Outwardly his haughty manners can be “repulsive” (to
quote Elizabeth, “proud and repulsive as were his manners”) to other people while inwardly his pride relates
more to his opinion of himself. According to Mary, “Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to
what we would have others think of us”. Darcy’s repulsively proud manners partly originate from his inner
pride in his “family, fortune and everything in his favour” (to quote Miss Lucas). While it may be theoretically
acceptable to translate “pride” as 傲慢 when the external part of Darcy’s pride is talked of, problems arise
when the inner part is referred to as in “pride has connected him nearer with virtue”. Darcy’s inner pride is
mentioned on many other occasions in the novel. In Chapter 10, volume 2 of the novel, for example, Elizabeth
attributes her sister’s hopeless romance to Darcy’s inner pride. The renderings of “pride” in this example are
shown in Table 3.
When she thought of her mother, indeed, her confidence gave way a little, but she would not allow that any objections
there had material weight with Mr. Darcy, whose pride1, she was convinced, would receive a deeper wound from the want
of importance in his friend’s connections, than from their want of sense; and she was quite decided at last, that he had been
partly governed by this worst kind of pride2, and partly by the wish of retaining Mr. Bingley for his sister. (Austen, 2003, p.
144)
Table 3
Renditions of Darcy’s Inner Pride
W Z&Z S F L D L&D
1
pride 自尊心自尊心自尊自尊心自尊心傲慢骄傲
pride2 傲慢傲慢傲慢傲慢自尊心傲慢骄傲
Darcy’s pride is different from that of Lady Catherine, his aunt. It is true that Darcy’s pride does
sometimes escalate to reach haughtiness in the eyes of the omniscient narrator (see page 18 of the novel where
Darcy is said to be “haughty, reserved and fastidious”) and insolence in the eyes of Elizabeth (see page 155
where the style of his letter is “all pride and insolence”). For the Hertfordshire residents, however, Darcy is
most of the time proud rather than arrogant, conceited, or insolent. The pride of “well-bred” and “clever” Darcy

is somewhat justified and regulated when compared with that of Lady Catherine. However, the renderings of
translators may lead to the wrong interpretation of the character traits of Darcy on the part of the Chinese reader.
The following two examples are taken from Chapter 16 of volume 1 and Chapter 14 of volume 3 of the novel.
The renderings of Lady Catherine’s character traits in these two examples are shown in Table 4.
“Mr. Collins”, said she, “speaks highly both of Lady Catherine and her daughter; but from some particulars that he
has related of her ladyship, I suspect his gratitude misleads him, and that in spite of her being his patroness, she is an
arrogant, conceited woman”.
“I believe her to be both in a great degree”, replied Wickham; “I have not seen her for many years, but I very well
remember that I never liked her, and that her manners were dictatorial and insolent1…” (Austen, 2003, p. 68)
Her carriage remained at the door, and Elizabeth saw that her waiting-woman was in it. They proceeded in silence
along the gravel walk that led to the copse; Elizabeth was determined to make no effort for conversation with a woman
who was now more than usually insolent2 and disagreeable.
“How could I ever think her like her nephew?” said she, as she looked in her face. (Austen, 2003, p. 259)
Table 4
Renditons of Lady Catherine’s Personality
W Z&Z S F L D L&D
arrogant 狂妄狂妄自大高傲高傲清高妄自尊大傲慢
conceited 自大目空一切自负自负自负目空一切自负
insolent2 傲慢专横无理傲慢傲慢傲慢无礼盛气凌人傲慢无礼
The word “pride” carries a much less derogatory connotation than “arrogant”, “conceited”, or “insolent”.
However, in the examples above these words tend to become all mixed up and indistinguishable in the Chinese
versions. In five of the seven Chinese versions “insolent” is rendered as 傲慢 or 傲慢无礼. In three of the
seven Chinese versions “arrogant” is rendered as 高傲 or 清高, which are less derogatory than 傲慢 used by
the translators to refer to Darcy’s pride.
Secondly, the Chinese title of the novel may have served as a blindfold, rendering the translators oblivious
of their mistakes. It is obvious that the closest Chinese equivalent of “pride” is 骄傲 and that the easiest way
to deal with “pride” is to replace it with its closest Chinese equivalent and then stick to 骄傲 all the way
through the novel, but the translators did not take the easiest way. The possible reason is that the translators
liked the Chinese title 傲慢与偏见 (Wang Ke-yi was the first one who came up with this title.) too much to let
go of it. In the Chinese title 傲慢 rhymes nicely with 偏见, creating a similar effect to that of the alliteration
with the letter P. In addition, 傲慢 creates a vivid image of the sometimes haughty Darcy. Though looking
perfect, the Chinese title, together with an incorrect understanding of Darcy’s pride on the translators’ part,
leads to various mistakes. Generally speaking, the title of a novel can highlight its theme and serve as the core
around which other parts of the novel revolve. Theoretically once it is decided that “pride” in the title should be
傲慢, translators need to stick to 傲慢 every time “pride” occurs. FANG’s renditions of the two dialogues
stick to 傲慢 15 out of 20 times even when the contexts do not permit 傲慢. In the renditions of other
translators 傲慢 is sometimes replaced with a close or remote synonym when the contexts call for a
replacement, but as soon as the contexts become less demanding, 傲慢 comes back. This transition is most
evident in ZHANG and ZHANG’s rendition of dialogue 1 and in the renditions of the sentence where Elizabeth
attributes her sister’s hopeless romance to Darcy’s pride.

Thirdly, translators of the novel were not fully aware of the coherent and narrative functions of the
repetition of “pride”. Pride is one of the most important themes in the novel. It is a character trait possessed not
only by Darcy but also by Collins and Elizabeth. It can also refer to something positive. In the eyes of the
reader, for example, Elizabeth’s proud and impertinent manners depicted by Miss Bingley are an indication of
her self-respect. The word “pride” carries a commendatory connotation in Elizabeth’s comment “they may wish
him to marry a girl who has all the importance of money, great connections, and pride”. The repetition of
“pride” in the two dialogues and other places of the novel builds up and highlights this theme, which is
undermined by the renderings of “pride” as 傲慢 in the title and 高傲, 骄傲, 自尊, or 尊严 in the chapters
of the novel. Additionally, while it is true that “pride” may carry slightly different connotations for different
characters in dialogue 1 and dialogue 2, this does not mean that translators shall make constant adjustments so
that the renderings of “pride” conform to the characters’ different attitudes towards Darcy. ZHOU Tian is
wrong in believing that “pride” shall be rendered as the derogatory 傲慢 when uttered by Mrs. Bennet and the
neutral 骄傲 when uttered by Miss Lucas. Unfortunately, ZHOU’s proposition seems to be shared in the
renditions of dialogue 1 by ZHANG and ZHANG, and Sun Zhi-li, where “pride” sticks to 骄傲 almost all the
way through except when uttered by Mrs. Bennet, who holds a grudge against Darcy more than anybody else.
If the coherent and narrative functions of repetition are undermined in the renderings of ZHANG and ZHANG,
and SUN for a reason, the rendering of “pride” uttered by Miss Lucas as 傲慢 by DONG, and LIU and DENG
is more unacceptable. It needs to be added that the translators were not totally unaware of the coherent and
narrative functions of repetition. All of them except LIU and DENG, for instance, stuck to the same rendering
of “pride” in Mary’s comment in dialogue 2. FANG’s renditions of the two dialogues stick to 傲慢 15 out of
20 times even when contexts do not permit 傲慢.
My Suggestion
Based on the above analysis, it can be suggested that “pride” be rendered as 骄傲 all the way through the
whole novel. One possible alternative to 骄傲 is 高傲, which, like 骄傲, carries flexible connotations.
Additionally, 高傲 foregrounds the image of a repulsively proud Darcy better than 骄傲 in the title of the
novel. However, 高傲 is not so good as 骄傲 when we look at the whole picture. Firstly, 高傲 refers more
to the external side than to the inner side of one’s pride. Secondly, 高傲 is a derogatory word on most
occasions. So problems will arise when “brotherly pride” is rendered as “身为兄长的高傲” or when “Pride
relates more to our opinion of ourselves” is rendered as “高傲多指我们对自己的看法”.
Conclusion
Repetition plays a very important role in keeping a text cohesive and coherent. The word “pride” is
repeated a great number of times in the novel Pride and Prejudice. The easiest way to deal with “pride” is to
stick to 骄傲 all the way through the novel, but was disserted by all the seven translators examined in this
paper. In the two significant dialogues examined in the paper the same word is rendered differently in each of
the seven Chinese versions of the novel. As a result, the cohesive and coherent discourses in the original novel
are ruined and the Chinese reader may get a wrong impression of the character traits of Darcy. The paper points
out three possible reasons behind the wrong renderings. It is therefore hoped that the paper will shed light both
on the translation of Pride and Prejudice and on the functions and translation of repeated words in other novels.

References
Anderson, C. (1994). Matthew’s narrative web: Over, and over, and over again. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
Austen, J. (2003). Pride and prejudice. London: Planet Three Publishing Network Ltd..
DONG, L. (Trans.). (2007). Pride and prejudice. Taipei: Crown Publishing Company Ltd..
FANG, H. W. (Trans.). (2011). Pride and prejudice. Nanjing: Yilin Publishing House.
Halliday, M., & Hasan, R. (Trans.). (2007). Cohesion in English. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
HU, Z. L. (1984). Discourse cohesion and coherence. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
JING, S. R. (2001). On the English-Chinese translation of repetition of rhetoric words in a discourse: A case study of four Chinese
versions of innovations. Paper read at The Ninth National Symposium of China Association for Comparative Studies of
English and Chinese.
Kirby, J. (2009). Repetition in the book of revelation (Doctoral dissertation, The Catholic University of America).
LE, X. (Trans.). (2011). Pride and prejudice. Taipei: The Commercial Press Ltd..
LIU, P. F., & DENG, S. M. (Trans.). (2009). Pride and prejudice. Taichung: How Do Publishing Co., Ltd..
SUN, Z. L. (Trans.). (1999). Pride and prejudice. Nanjing: Yilin Publishing House.
WANG, K.Y. (Trans.). (2006). Pride and prejudice. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
ZHANG, D. L., & LIU, R. S. (2003). The development of the theory of text cohesion and coherence and its applications. Shanghai:
Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
ZHANG, L., & ZHANG, Y. (Trans.). (2004). Pride and prejudice. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.
ZHOU, T. (2007). Coherence in literary translation: A case study of the Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice. Journal of
Changsha University, 21, 101.
ZHU, Y. S., ZHENG, L. X., & MIAO, X. W. (2001). A contrastive study of cohesion in English and Chinese. Shanghai: Shanghai
Foreign Language Education Press.

doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.02.008
D DAVID PUBLISHING
On “Great Dreams” in Great Expectations
JING Jing JING Xia

Changchun University, Changchun, China No. 20 Junior Middle School of Siping, Siping, China
Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens’ great works, and it tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy brought up
by his sister, who has good luck and great expectations, and then loses both of them. Through the rise and fall,
however, Pip learns how to find happiness. He learns the meaning of friendship and love, and, of course, becomes a
better person for it. Great Expectations reveals the hypocrisy of the Victorian civilization in England from the
perspective of capitalist humanism and discloses the serious problems and nature of the society. This paper aims at
interpreting Pip’s “Great Dream” and analyzing the influence of the social and historical backgrounds on Pip’s
“Great Dream”.
Keywords: Great Dream, Great Expectations, Pip
Introduction
Charles Dickens is a famous English novelist in Victorian period. As a critical realist writer, his works not
only reflect the life experience of whole generation, but also reveal, in a more intensive and extensive way than
any other novels of the same period, the social realization of England during the 19th century.
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It depicts the growth and personal development of an
orphan named Pip, the protagonist and narrator of the work. The novel was first published in serial form in All the
Year Round from December 1, 1860 to August 1861. There are three major themes in Great Expectations, namely,
ambition and self-improvement, social class, and crime, guilt, and innocence. Dickens establishes the moral
theme that affection, loyalty, and conscience are more important than social advancement, wealth, and class and
shows Pip to learn this lesson, largely by exploring the ideas of ambition and self-improvement—ideas that
quickly become both the thematic center of the novel and the psychological mechanism that encourages much of
Pip’s development.
The Interpretation of Pip’s “Great Dream”

In Great Expectations, the “great dream” has two meanings. On the one hand, the dream can be called
“great”, for on the way to win the love the protagonist also realizes his own self-improvement. So in this way, his
dreams’ greatness lies in his great ambitions of his future and the persistence in pursing his ideal dreams. On the
other hand, due to the unrealistic characteristic of his dreams and the whole process of the realization, his dream
cannot really be called “great”.
JING Jing, lecturer, master, School of Foreign Languages, Changchun University.

JING Xia, lecturer, bachelor, No. 20 Junior Middle School of Siping.
158 ON “GREAT DREAMS” IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS
The protagonist of the Great Expectations is Pip, who is a sensitive child, orphaned and lived under the care
of his sister and her husband. At the beginning of the novel, Pip is characterized as a harmless, caring boy, who
draws much sympathy from the reader even though he is at that point content with his common life. During his
first visit to the Satis House, Estella, the heroine, who considers herself much too refined and well-bred to
associate with a common boy, scorns Pip, while Pip seems to fall in love with Estella during their first meeting.
After just one afternoon at the Satis House, Pip develops a desire to become more acceptable to Estella, hoping
that her callous attitude towards him would change. As a result, while walking back to the forge, Pip begins to
feel ashamed of his life and his position in society because he believes that it will ruin his hopes of Estella loving
him. Unfortunately, as Pip develops unrealistic hopes and dreams for his life, all his positive characteristics are
replaced by undesirable ones. Then, when Mr. Jaggers informs Pip of the “Great Expectations” that have been
placed on him, Pip begins to believe that Miss Havisham has destined him to be married to Estella. Almost
immediately, Pip’s ego grows tremendously, and he becomes arrogant as he looks down on his “common”, yet
caring and loyal friends. As the arrogant and ungrateful Pip continues to believe that Miss Havisham has chosen
him to be the recipient of her money and, hopefully, of Estella’s husband in marriage, he also continues to be
ashamed of and look down on his past life. For many years, Pip has believed that he and Estella were destined to
be married. But when Pip finally learns that Abel Magwitch, not Miss Havisham, is his benefactor, his unrealistic
dreams and expectations start to fade, and his genuinely good nature begins to overcome the negative traits that
he had developed.
The story can be divided into three phases of Pip’s life dreams and expectations. In the first expectation, Pip
lives a humble existence with his ill-tempered older sister and her strong but gentle husband, Joe Gargery. Pip is
satisfied with this life and his warm friends until he is hired by an embittered wealthy woman, Miss Havisham, as
an occasional companion to her and her beautiful but haughty adopted daughter, Estella. From that time on, Pip
aspires to leave behind his simple life and be a gentleman. After years as the companion to Miss Havisham and
Estella, he spends more years as an apprentice to Joe, so that he may grow up to have a livelihood working as a
blacksmith. Such a kind of life is suddenly turned upside down when he is visited by a London attorney, Mr.
Jaggers, who informs Pip that he is to come into the “Great Expectation” of a large property and be trained to be
a gentleman with the help of an anonymous benefactor.
The second stage of Pip’s expectations is the time when Pip is in London, learning the details of being a
gentleman, having tutors, fine clothing, and joining a cultured society. Whereas he was always engaged in honest
labor when he was younger, he now is supported by a generous allowance, which he frequently lives beyond. He
learns to fit in this new milieu, and experiences not only friendship but rivalry as he finds himself in the same
circles as Estella, who is also pursued by many other men, especially Bentley Drummle, whom she favors. As he
adopts the physical and cultural norms of his new status, he also adopts the class attitudes that go with it, and
when Joe comes to visit Pip, Pip is embarrassed to the point of hostility by Joe’s unlearned ways. At the end of
this stage, Pip is introduced to his benefactor, which again changes his world.
The third and last stage of Pip’s expectations alters Pip’s life from the artificially supported world of his
upper class strivings and introduces him to realities that he realizes he must deal with, facing moral, physical, and
financial challenges. He learns startling truths and finds that he cannot regain many of the important things that he
has cast aside so carelessly, and turns into a good-natured person again.
ON “GREAT DREAMS” IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS 159
Earlier in his life, he has changed from an innocent, caring boy into an arrogant young man as a result of his
unrealistic hopes and dreams. However, when those hopes and dreams come to an end, so do his undesirable traits,
as he is shown to be a truly good-natured person.
Pip’s “Great Dream” can be seen from two different perspectives. On the one hand, we can see that Pip has
great expectations and dreams towards his future, and it is reasonable for a young man like him to pursue his own
dreams so as to have great expectations or a bright future. Pip wants to win the love of Estella through the means
of becoming a real gentleman, which is actually one of Pip’s great expectations for himself. During the process of
winning the love of Estella, Pip focuses on self-improvement. So from this perspective, his dream thus can be
called “great”. On the other hand, on his way to realize his dream of winning the love of Estella, he sacrifices his
kindness and friendship and at the expense of losing his positive nature, which finally destroys the greatness of
his dream.
The Backgrounds of Pip’s “Great Dream”

Great Expectations was produced during the Victorian period. The tremendous changes that took place in
England in the forties were described in the novels of Charles Dickens. By the early eighteen seventies England
had become the workshop of the world and the world’s banker. The factory had become the focal point of the
nation’s life. It was a period of complacency, stability, and optimism. During this period the Great Exhibition was
held in the Crystal Palace, which was a display of the nation’s advanced technology and industry as well as its
prosperity. But the prosperity was on the surface, while beneath there were anxieties and worries, for in 1857 and
the following years, the economy was hit by crises from time to time. Great Expectations wrote by Charles
Dickens realistically exposed the darker side of the seemingly prosperous society.
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from June 20, 1837 until her
death on January 22, 1901. Though Queen Victoria lived from 1819 to 1901, she did not come to the throne until
1837. Queen Victoria was on the throne for more than 60 years. During the long reign of Queen Victoria England
grew from an agricultural country into an industrialized one and became the workshop of the world as well as its
financial and political center. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities, and national
self-confidence for Britain. The era was preceded by the Georgian period and succeeded by the Edwardian period.
Culturally there was a transition away from the rationalism of the Georgian period and toward romanticism and
mysticism with regard to religion, social values, and the arts. The era is popularly associated with the values of
social and sexual restraint. In international relations the era was a long period of peace, known as the Pax
Britannica, and economic, colonial, and industrial consolidation, temporarily disrupted by the Crimean War in
1854. The end of the period saw the Boer War. At the same time, around 15 million emigrants left the United
Kingdom in the Victorian era and settled mostly in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Victoria’s reign
lasted for 63 years and 216 days, the longest in British history up to the present day.
The Influence of Backgrounds on Pip’s “Great Dream”

The superficial prosperity of the British society made people pursue money and status blindly, and the Great
Expectations is a vivid reflection of the whole society’ status quo. At that time, people only saw the prosperous
aspect of the society, and everyone went after wealth and status. Actually, Pip came from a poor family, and when
160 ON “GREAT DREAMS” IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS
he saw Estella for the first time, he fell in love with her, and later in order to win the love of Estella, he hoped that
he could be a real gentleman so as to match Estella. The sense of vanity influenced by the whole society drove Pip
to become a member of the upper class. Pip changed on acquiring wealth and status, and his childhood home and
friends were embarrassing to him. In trying to live up to his own dreams and expectations, he lost his sense of
judgment and began to value material possessions and gentlemanly pretensions more than kindness and
friendship. On realizing that his patron is a convict, Pip mends his way of life and returns to his good-natured self,
which is more mature as a result of his experience. The significant changes that Pip’s deterioration from an
innocent boy into an arrogant gentleman and his redemption as a good-natured person has illustrated the idea that
unrealistic hopes and expectations can lead to undesirable traits.
Throughout Great Expectations, Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the
most wretched criminals (Magwitch) to the poor peasants of the marsh country (Joe and Biddy), to the middle
class (Pumblechook), and to the very rich (Miss Havisham). The theme of social class is central to the novel’s
plot and to the ultimate moral theme of the book—Pip’s realization that wealth and class are less important than
affection, loyalty, and inner worth. Pip achieves this realization when he is finally able to understand that, despite
the esteem in which he holds Estella, one’s social status is in no way connected to one’s real character. Perhaps
the most important thing to remember about the novel’s treatment of social class is that the class system it
portrays is based on the post-Industrial Revolution model of Victorian England. Dickens generally ignores the
nobility and the hereditary aristocracy in favor of characters whose fortunes have been earned through commerce.
In this way, by connecting the theme of social class to the idea of work and self-improvement, Dickens subtly
reinforces the novel’s overarching theme of ambition and self-improvement.
Conclusion
In this paper the author chooses Great Expectations to analyze the protagonist-Pip’ “Great Dream” based on
the social and historical backgrounds in England. The protagonist Pip in Great Expectations has a humble origin
when he fell in love with the young lady. Virtually, he hopes that they can have a bright future and great
expectations to realize their dream of becoming a better man, while he twists his dreams and seems to be too
eager to be successful. He regards winning his love of the heroine as his “Great Dreams”. So in order to live up to
his unrealistic dream to become a wealthy man with a high social status, he throws away his positive nature,
which in turn makes him suffer a lot in the end.
To conclude, the word “Great” in both the titles can be endowed with two layers of meanings. On the one
hand, it sarcastically criticizes the unrealistic dreams of pursuing material values that the protagonist holds. On
the other hand, at a time when extravagance and materialism comes first, the protagonist still harbors hopes and
dreams, and can persist in them. By analyzing the protagonist’ characteristics and under the social and historical
backgrounds, we can see that one’s real worth and value lies in the conscience and affection rather than wealth
and social status.
References
CHEN, J. (2003). A history of English literature. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Dickens, C. (2010). Great expectations. Xi’an: Global Book Press.
Rosenberg, E. (Ed.). (1999). Great expectations. New York: Norton.
ON “GREAT DREAMS” IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS 161
Thomas, G. R. (1961). Great expectations. London: Edward Arnold.

Wilson, A. (1970). The world of Charles Dickens. London: The Book Society.
ZHANG, D. Q., & WU, G. (2002). A new concise history of English literature. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education Press.

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Teaching Theory & Practice

The Methodology of Creating “Terminology” in Rhetoric and

Dr. Abbas Abdul-Halim Abbas Dr. Ayman Yasin

Keywords: literary criticism, dictionary, terms, terminology, rhetoric

An Attempt for Classification

Comment and Critique

Necessity for Terminology

Conclusion and Prospective Research

On the Nonce Variant of English Idioms∗

WANG Chao-fan, MENG Fan-mao

Reasons for the Formation of Nonce Variant

Three Major Types of Nonce Variants

Motivations of Nonce Variations

The Effect of a Flipping Classroom on Writing Skill in English

Mervat Abd Elfatah Ali Said Ahmed

Blended Learning, Constructivism, and Independent Learning

Research in the Flipped Classroom Instruction (FCI) Educational Practice

Purpose of the Study

Questions of the Study

Procedures of the Study

mean scorees of pre-testt and post-tesst of the expeerimental gro

Figure 1. Thhe results of thee T-test of the exxperimental and

Figure 2. The results of the

Figure 3. The resultss of the T-test of

Appendix A: An EFL Writing Test

Students’ attitudes towards the Flipped Classroom Instruction:

The Establishment of Strategy-Training-Based Writing Teaching

Language Experiment Platform (LEP)

The LEP of Writing

Mechanism maintenance Strategy training

Figure 1. Components of language experiment platform.

The Strategy-Training-Based Writing Teaching Mode via LEP

Developing Students’ Global Perspectives

Teaching Perspective Consciousness

Teaching Global Issues

Teaching World Interconnectedness

A Crossroads of Seven Streets: A Control Mechanism of

English Questionnaires With Suggested Right Answers

Figure 1. Statistics of question 1a.

Figure 2. Statistics of question 1b.

Figure 3. Statistics of question 3.

Figure 4. Statistics of question 6.

Identification of Phrase Appropriateness

Figure 5. Statistics of question 1.

Figure 6. Statistics of question 2.

Figure 7. Statistics of question 4.

Identification of Phrase Appropriateness

On the Translation of “pride” in Pride and Prejudice

Keywords: pride, Pride and Prejudice, repetition, translation, coherence

Instances of Wrong Renderings of “pride”

伊丽莎白叫道: “多奇怪! 多可恶! 我真不明白, 这位达西先生既然这样有自尊心1, 怎么又这样亏待你! 要是没

Dialogue 2 and its Chinese rendition are as follows.

“亲爱的, 你刚说的我一个字都不信。如果他真这么讨人喜欢, 他应该会去和隆格太太说话。但我能猜到是什

Analysis of the Wrong Renderings of “pride”

On “Great Dreams” in Great Expectations

JING Jing JING Xia

Keywords: Great Dream, Great Expectations, Pip