The Effect of Gender on the Bilingual and Bicultural Identity of the Iraqi EFL Learners' Recognition and Production of Request

Mohammed Jasim Betti,Zainab Kadhim Hashim

doi:10.30560/ilr.v4n3p32

Abstract

This study examines the effect of gender on students' bilingual and bicultural identity in their recognition and production of request is studied. This means that it investigates to what extent the learners’ mother tongue and culture influence their recognition and production of request in the EFL and the effect of gender on such an identity. The study aims at exploring and identifying the linguistic patterns of request in English used by Iraqi EFL learners, those patterns of request transferred from Iraqi EFL learners’ mother tongue, and the Iraqi EFL learners’ cultural patterns and cultural realization of request transferred from Arabic culture into the EFL. Some hypotheses of the study state that there is a bilingual and cultural identity in using request by Iraqi EFL learners, females are better than males in request perception and production and they are worse in Arabic monolingualism and monoculturalism, students are better in English monolingualism and monoculturalism than in the other request features, students’ English monolingual and monocultural identity is more apparent in request perception than in production. To validate or refute its hypotheses, a test comprising recognition and production has been constructed and applied to fifty Iraqi EFL learners at fourth year, Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Thi-Qar at the academic year (2020-2021). After data analysis, some conclusions are arrived at. The study concludes that Iraqi EFL learners are pragmatically incompetent and they have a bilingual and bicultural identity because of their mother tongue and culture interference.

Highlights

1.1 Introduce the ProblemEFL learners have linguistic and cultural interference or negative transfer from their mother tongue into the FL
Different strategies of request are used by Iraqi EFL learner with regard to different situations
Students’ English monolingual and monocultural identity is more apparent in request perception than in production

Summary

Introduction

EFL learners have linguistic and cultural interference or negative transfer from their mother tongue into the FL. Some studies reveal that Iraqi EFL learners do not have an adequate knowledge of pragmatic aspects in English especially if their interaction in a given situation is clearly manifested in the performance of the speech act of request when speaking in English which is an FL. They may seem less polite in the production of this face threatening act ( FTA). Different strategies of request are used by Iraqi EFL learner with regard to different situations. The appropriateness of such strategies is affected by the learners’ cultural backgrounds or mother culture (Abdul Sattar et al 2009: 68)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion