Arab Culture Research Articles

Measuring the Impact of the Pandemic on Female and Male Students’ Learning in a Society in Transition: A Must for Sustainable Education

A sustainable education amid a disruptive event (e.g., a pandemic) requires the objective assessment of learning before and during the event and, if necessary, evidence-driven solutions in response to deficiencies. The present action research study illustrates an evidence-based response of educators to the widespread concerns that learning in college students, accustomed to face-to-face courses, might have been damaged during the pandemic by the switch to the online mode. It focuses on general education (GE) courses as they usually enroll students at the beginning of their journey in higher education, and thus, a population that is likely to be particularly sensitive to unforeseen changes. Pass/fail grades in courses taught face-to-face and online synchronously by the same instructors were examined. It was hypothesized that if the switch from face-to-face to online instruction changed the students’ approaches to learning, course performance would differ between the instructional modes. Differences in female and male students’ adaptation responses were expected to be reflected in their course performance. The study found that female students performed better online than face-to-face in Arabic Culture, Natural Science, Math, and Wellness courses. Male students also performed better online in Math and Natural Science courses, whereas they exhibited better performance face-to-face in Arabic Culture, Wellness, and Professional Competency courses. It was concluded that basic indices of uneven performance can guide further analyses into the sources of female and male students’ approaches to instructional modes.

The cultural evolution of love in literary history

Since the late nineteenth century, cultural historians have noted that the importance of love increased during the Medieval and Early Modern European period (a phenomenon that was once referred to as the emergence of 'courtly love'). However, more recent works have shown a similar increase in Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Indian and Japanese cultures. Why such a convergent evolution in very different cultures? Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, we leverage literary history and build a database of ancient literary fiction for 19 geographical areas and 77 historical periods covering 3,800 years, from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Modern period. We first confirm that romantic elements have increased in Eurasian literary fiction over the past millennium, and that similar increases also occurred earlier, in Ancient Greece, Rome and Classical India. We then explore the ecological determinants of this increase. Consistent with hypotheses from cultural history and behavioural ecology, we show that a higher level of economic development is strongly associated with a greater incidence of love in narrative fiction (our proxy for the importance of love in a culture). To further test the causal role of economic development, we used a difference-in-difference method that exploits exogenous regional variations in economic development resulting from the adoption of the heavy plough in medieval Europe. Finally, we used probabilistic generative models to reconstruct the latent evolution of love and to assess the respective role of cultural diffusion and economic development.

Psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the quality of life in childhood epilepsy questionnaire (QOLCE-55)

ObjectiveTo develop an Arabic translation of the Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy-55 questionnaire (QOLCE-55), and to assess its validity and reliability to be readily used in Arabic and Egyptian cultures. Subjects and methodsThe original English version of the QOLCE-55 was translated into Arabic using a forward–backward translation method, and then a cross-sectional survey was conducted including 100 children with epilepsy aged 4–18 years. Caregivers of children completed the Arabic version of the QOLCE-55. Assessment of psychometric properties of the translated questionnaire was conducted using test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent and divergent validity. ResultsThe translated questionnaire showed excellent test–retest reliability with the intra-class correlation coefficient for all questionnaire domains, as well as the overall questionnaire ranging from 0.91 to 0.98. Cronbach alpha exceeded 0.7 denoting good internal consistency except for the emotional functioning scale. Convergent and divergent validity assessment showed that items of all domains significantly correlated with their scale scores with r > 0.4 and these correlations were much higher than correlations with other scales’ scores, consistent with good convergent and divergent validity. The mean total HRQOL score was 65.63 ± 8.79 with the highest score for social functioning domain and lowest score for physical functioning domain. ConclusionThe Arabic version of the QOLCE-55 can be considered a suitable, reliable, and valid tool to assess the HRQOL of children with epilepsy through their caregivers’ reports.

DIALOG ISLAM-BUDAYA

This study aims to examine the interaction of Islam and Arab culture; in this case, the response of the Prophet saw with the culture of the Arab community. As uswah hasanah for his ummah, the variety of responses of Rasulullah saw contained in the hadith and historical records will be identified and then lessons will be taken from it. The background of this paper stems from the anthropological fact that society, including the Arab society before the advent of Islam, is not a society empty of culture or sterile from the influence of religion, customs, morals, and rules of life that have existed among them. As soon as Islam came with all the norms that were in it, then Islam interacted with it and became a filter for the culture, customs, and beliefs that already existed among the pre -Islamic Arab society. The question is how did Muhammad saw respond to that tradition? This study is based on a study of historical literature that contains the Prophet's response to the traditions of the Arab community. There are four important findings that can be noted regarding the Prophet's response to the jāhiliyyah tradition. First, the tradition is fully accommodated (total accommodation). Second, traditions that are totally rejected or totally corrected (total refuse or total correction). Third, traditions that are partly adopted but partly rejected (particular accommodation). Fourth, the tradition is in principle preserved with a little modification here and there (synchronization and modification).

A Case Study of University Students’ Performance in Arabic and Islamic Culture Courses Before and During the Pandemic (Face-to-Face and Online Instruction)

Abstract: In the present study, we examined whether students’ academic success in courses devoted to Arabic and Islamic culture changed when the familiar face-to-face delivery format (before the Covid-19 pandemic) was discarded in favor of an online synchronous delivery format (during the pandemic). The final class grades of students enrolled in one of four courses in a sequence devoted to Arabic culture and religion were compared while holding constant the variable instructor. The ability of early performance indicators to predict final class grades was also examined to assess whether there were differences between instructional deliveries. Superior performance and lower failure rates were observed online for courses at the beginning of the sequence, but not at the end of the sequence. These findings suggest that the impact of instructional delivery might vary depending on the students’ accumulated academic experience.

Regional Education Organizations in the Arab World: A Case Study of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO)

Abstract: While there are innumerable studies about global international organizations (IOs) in education, the role of regional organizations seems overshadowed by more powerful actors in the field, the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Although they are important in their regions, little is known about them and their interactions with global IOs. This research reveals new insight regarding the role that regional organizations play in the design of education policy in the Arab world, including all 22 Arab-speaking states of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region that is defined by a common language, culture and religion, and how these policies are shaped by the interaction between regional and global IOs. Using a postcolonial framework, a qualitative case study was conducted of a regional IO focusing on the Arab world and an important actor in education policy: the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO). The analysis reveals how the ALECSO is unmoored between two trends that pull it in different directions: its spoken aim to counter Western hegemony in the region, and the dominance of certain IOs that necessarily define other organizations’ work.

Remembering Nawal El Saadawi

Remembering Nawal El Saadawi

Brief Synopses of New Arabic-Language Publications

Brief Synopses of New Arabic-Language Publications

Arab Social Workers’ Burnout in Welfare Bureaus: Expressions, Reasons, Implications and Coping-Mechanisms

Abstract The research investigated expressions of, reasons, implications and coping strategies for burnout according to twenty-three Arab ethnic-national minority social workers in Arab welfare bureaus in Israel. Interview data indicated that burnout is expressed in somatisation and interpersonal behaviours with clients and colleagues. As in Arab culture, personal emotional suffering is not mentioned. Micro- and meso-level factors were ignored. Macro-level dependence on the establishment includes professional training and government policies inappropriate for the Arab population’s unique needs. Interviewees mentioned only minor consequences, ensuring their continued employment. They rationalised and universalised burnout as normative, sufficing with indirect coping strategies, for example social events.

The Hierarchy of Oppression, from Authoritarianism to Misogyny: A Study in the Monodrama of Mamdouh ʿUdwan

This paper will focus on the drama of the Syrian dramatist and poet Mamdouh ʿUdwan (1941-2004), who has not yet received due critical attention. During his twenty years writing for the stage, ʿUdwan resisted oppressive political regimes and was consequently marginalized and impoverished. Due to censorship, his drama does not delineate the free society that he dreams of, nor does it openly censure the sources of corruption. On the contrary, he creates ambiguous male characters who enjoy a measure of dignity and social decorum but simultaneously unravel their toxic masculinity and oppressive nature. On the other hand, women are kept offstage and are victims of either male chauvinism or social hypocrisy. This study will follow the unmasking of male authority and its parallel to political and economic hegemony. The purpose is to critique the values of Arab culture, which customarily cements male privilege. An analytical study of the form and content of ʿUdwan’s monodramas That’s Life (1987), The Garbage Collector (1987), and The Cannibals (1984) will link oppressive social behavior to political autocracy. It suggests that misogyny and oppression of women are consequences of men feeling crushed by dictatorship and corruption.

Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of Duke Activity Status Index in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Purpose To translate and cross-culturally adapt the original Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) into the Arabic language and examine its psychometric properties in Arabic speaking patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Materials and methods The DASI was translated into the Arabic language and tested on 70 Arabic patients with COPD. Patients with COPD completed also the Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) on the first visit. On the second visit, the patients with COPD completed the Arabic version of DASI along with the global rating of change scale (GRC). The internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity were examined. Results Seventy Arabic speaking patients with COPD (56 males), mean (SD) age was 63.2 (11.1) year, completed the study. The patients reported no difficulty in understanding and completing the scale. Three items were modified and adapted to the Arabic culture. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.87, and the ICC2,1 was 0.95. The Arabic version of DASI correlated with the 6MWT (r = 0.55), the total score of SGRQ (r = −0.64) and its activity domain (r = −0.67), all p < 0.001. Conclusion The Arabic version of DASI is a simple, quick, reliable, and valid measure of functional capacity in Arabic speaking patients with COPD. Implications for practice The Arabic DASI can be used in all Arabic-speaking countries given that the scale was adapted to standard Arabic language. The Arabic DASI would yield similar scores with administrations over time in patients with unchanged condition and stable COPD. This questionnaire could be used for screening of functional capacity in COPD in primary care settings.

From Nuṣayrīs to ʿAlawīs: The Religiography of Muḥammad Kurd ʿAlī

A disproportionate emphasis on the work of Western European and North American scholars has been a feature of investigations into the development of the academic study of religion. This article seeks to examine how a non-European intellectual, the Syrian Muḥammad Kurd ʿAlī (1876–1953), produced and transmitted knowledge about religions in his encyclopedic historical topography of ‘Greater Syria’—the Khiṭaṭ al-Shām (1925–1928). Kurd ʿAlī was a leading figure in the Nahḍa, an intellectual movement that sought to revivify Arab (and for some, Islamic) culture through a rediscovery of its classical heritage and was a proponent of a reformist tendency within Sunnī Islam known as Salafism—often associated with the thought of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī and Muḥammad ʿAbduh. Kurd ʿAlī’s religiography in the Khiṭaṭ, though grounded in traditional Islamic discourse on the religious other, moves beyond that discourse to privilege the experiences and accounts of insiders. This move from heresiography to religiography is best seen through a close reading of Kurd ʿAlī’s writing on the ʿAlawīs (formerly known as Nuṣayrīs). Kurd ʿAlī’s writing on the ʿAlawīs is also an important witness to a vital phase in the development of that group’s articulation of its own identity in an environment that had been at best indifferent and at worst hostile to its existence.

The Pragmatics and Metapragmatics of Intervention: A Focus on Morality and Politeness

This research offers a perception of understanding the metapragmatics of politeness and morality through intervention by examining peoples’ reaction to certain aggressive acts. The relationship between im/politeness and morality was explored in terms metacommunicative voicing by observers and participants. The analysis in this paper focuses on certain cases in which aggressive behaviours are committed in public. This investigation aims to contribute to the current research on im/politeness and morality by examining the borders of im/politeness and the moral order in the arena of conflict between an abuser and intervener. The data of this study are naturally occurring as they were yielded without the participants’ awareness of the situation displayed on a TV-show. This paper adopted Kadar &amp; Marquez Reiter (2015) as a model of analysis in the field of impoliteness. It contributed to such a model in terms of examining intervention in Arabic Pranks. This could be a motivation for cross cultural studies of impoliteness in general and intervention in particular. It was found that the metapragmatics of im/politeness through the act of intervention was affected by means of certain scales measuring attributes that are central to Arabic culture including national and moral identity, religiosity, collectivism and humanity.

THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY ON ISLAMIC CULTURE AL-TAWHIDI IS A MODEL

The East, with its ontological history, is full of religions, and the spirituality of the eastern mind is evident in its love for the literature of proverbs and wisdom that it was able to formulate, and its sanctification of the word is only due to its magical impact on himself; It is his consolation for his painful reality! It deals with its concepts and religious and worldly matters, and that he did not digest Greek philosophy until after the writers presented it with short sentences with wise meanings from the sayings of its philosophers! It is known that wisdom and proverbs are advice, guidance, advice and exhortation, expressing a subjective experience, length of contemplation and insight into life matters, and they often have moral dimensions and that they are suitable for all human societies in a time and place. The concept of culture is so complex that it includes all human aspects. Speaking about the impact of Greek culture on Arab culture or even the presence of multiple connections, it stems from the phenomenon of influence and influence. Greek philosophy was mixed with Islamic thought and culture in the Abbasid era in general, and Arabic literature in general. In particular, it became one of the tools of expression, and the Greek philosophical culture penetrated into the Arab culture (its terms, concepts and sayings of its philosophers) until it spread in its three types: pure philosophical culture, literary philosophy, and philosophical literature. Islamic Society As the names of Greek philosophers gained popularity among members of society in all its classes! The research focused on the issue of the impact of Muslim writers on the dissemination of Greek philosophical culture in the Abbasid era, taking from Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. 414 AH / 1023 AD) as a model; Although al-Tawhidi was not unique in mixing literature with philosophy; But it is a typical example of the writers of the Abbasid era who were influenced by Greek philosophy and whose literary culture was mixed with Greek philosophy. Greek philosophy has spread among members of the Islamic community by publishing the wisdom, proverbs and sayings of Greek philosophers and scientists. The research was divided into three sections that dealt with the first topic: the relationship between literature and philosophy, while the second topic: the reasons for monotheistic influence on Greek philosophy, and the third topic: it follows the impact of Greek philosophy with the works of monotheism.

Unsheathing Poet’s Sword Again: The Crusades in Arabic Anticolonial Poetry before 1948

Both Arab and Western scholars agree that, starting in the mid-20th century, the correlation of Western Europeans with the Crusaders and the extrapolation of the term “Crusade” to modern military conflicts have become an integral part of modern Arab political discourse, and are also widely reflected in Arab culture. The existence of works examining references to the theme of the Crusades in Arab social thought, politics, and culture of the second half of the 20th century contrasts with the almost complete absence of specialized studies devoted to the analysis of references to this historical era in Arab culture in the 19th century and first half of the 20th. An analysis of references to the era of the Crusades in the work of Arab poets before 1948 shows that, already in the period of the Arab Revival, this topic occupied an important place in the imagery of anti-colonial poetry, and not only in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, historically attacked by the Crusaders, but also in other regions of the Arab world. If, before World War I, Arab poets only praised the commanders of the past who defeated the Crusaders, then afterwards the theme of the Crusades was also used to liken the European colonialists to the “medieval Franks”. The authors of the poems containing images from the era of the Crusades were, among others, the participants of the Arab Uprising of 1936–1939 and the Arab-Israeli War of 1947–1949, who set their goal with the help of poetry to mobilize the masses for the struggle.

The Memory of the Crusades in the Arabic Folk Epics: Images and Patterns

Considering the importance of the topos of the Crusades for the Arab discourses of the 19th - 21st centuries and its influence on the collective memory in modern Arab countries, the challenge of finding the roots of this phenomenon is of vital importance. This problem can be solved only through the analyses of the memory of the Crusades in Arab culture from the late 13th to the beginning of the 19th centuries. Proceeding from this, it seems relevant to study the preservation of the memory of the Crusades in one of the most important types of works of Arabic literature, Arabic Folk Epics. The analysis of the image of the Franks in this kind of sources shows that during the era of the Crusades itself and in the subsequent centuries a huge number of the Arab tribal pre-Islamic narratives and passages about the struggle against Byzantium were transformed into the ones dedicated to Jihad against the Franks. Thus, first the Crusades reshaped this kind of narratives, and then the Arab tradition itself began to support and reproduce the image of the Christian-European-Crusader in the collective memory in Egypt and Levant due to the high popularity of the Folk Epics, which might have created a horizon of expectation for the perception of the European colonial policy of the 19th-20th centuries, i.e. “the return of the Crusaders”.

Twitter Arabic Sentiment Analysis to Detect Depression Using Machine Learning

Depression has been a major global concern for a long time, with the disease affecting aspects of many people's daily lives, such as their moods, eating habits, and social interactions. In Arabic culture, there is a lack of awareness regarding the importance of facing and curing mental health diseases. However, people all over the world, including Arab citizens, tend to express their feelings openly on social media, especially Twitter, as it is a platform designed to enable the expression of emotions through short texts, pictures, or videos. Users are inclined to treat their Twitter accounts as diaries because the platform affords them anonymity. Many published studies have detected the occurrence of depression among Twitter users on the basis of data on tweets posted in English, but research on Arabic tweets is lacking. The aim of the present work was to develop a model for analyzing Arabic users’ tweets and detecting depression among Arabic Twitter users. And expand the diversity of user tweets, by adding a new label (“neutral”) so the dataset include three classes (“depressed”, “non-depressed”, “neutral”). The model was created using machine learning classifiers and natural language processing techniques, such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Logistic Regression (LR), K-nearest Neighbors (KNN), AdaBoost, and Naïve Bayes (NB). The results showed that the RF classifier outperformed the others, registering an accuracy of 82.39%.

Factors Impacting Teachers’ Continued IT Adoption in Pre-College Education

Aim/Purpose: This study was designed to examine the extent to which high school teachers intend to continue using the tablet PC in their teaching within the context of the Tablet Project initiative in Kuwait. It explores what drives their adoption intention. Background: Blended learning offers teachers the potential to adopt IT to augment their instructions and refocus their content, target group, context, and ethical facets; explore new modes of education and consider effective methods to educate students; and experience more flexibility in both course design and delivery method. To reap the potential benefits of integrating IT in education, the Ministry of Education in Kuwait introduced the “Tablet Project” in public high schools during the 2015–2016 academic year; three years later, it was unclear whether the teachers would continue using the tablet PCs in their teaching. Methodology: The research model adapts constructs from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) models. It includes facilitating conditions (FC), social influence (SI), and teaching efficacy (TE) as predictors of teachers’ behavioral intentions (BI) to continue using the tablet PC in future teaching. The model also proposes a moderating effect of gender, age, and tablet PC experience on BI. To test the research hypotheses, a data set was collected from 206 teachers and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. Contribution: This study provides empirical evidence on important predictors of continuous IT adoption in teaching activities and identifies lessons that could guide initiatives aimed to embed IT in the pre-college education system in Kuwait as well as other similar systems. It contributes results to advance theories and models aimed to explain and predict sustainable IT adoption in education systems across cultures. Findings: While TE arises as a non-significant predictor of BI, SI emerges as the strongest predictor of BI. FC is the second significant predictor of BI, although its direct effect on BI is non-significant. Gender, age, and tablet PC experience have non-significant moderating effects on BI. These results provide significant statistical support for the predictive power of the model, as it explains approximately 50% of the variance in BI. Recommendations for Practitioners: Since this research is directly connected to the reality of IT adoption in teaching in the Kuwaiti high school system, the findings should be of value for the Kuwaiti educational system and future teachers’ professional development initiatives. They should inform future actions and strategies aimed at successfully integrating IT in pre-college education in Kuwait and other similar countries. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings add to the ongoing research effort aimed to develop a better understanding of the intention to continue using IT in instruction and its influential factors across cultures (e.g., Arabian culture), especially since most earlier TPACK studies were carried out in Asian countries and the US. Our findings also confirm the value of UTAUT constructs (i.e., SI and FC) in explaining and predicting the intention to continue using IT by high school teachers, as the research model explains approximately 50% of the variance in the teachers’ BI. Impact on Society: This research offers empirical evidence that adds much-needed nuance to the discourse on teachers’ IT adoption intention and behavior and informs policies and strategies in support of initiatives aimed to integrate IT into education. The provision of a technical and organizational ecosystem that is conducive to sustainable IT integration in the Kuwaiti education system must be part of a more comprehensive initiative to digitize the entire education system. Education policy makers should embrace a digital mindset to adopt IT and transform the teaching, learning, and managerial processes in the system. Future Research: Future research could replicate this study and compare the results, employ other research methods (e.g., focus-group discussions and observations) to investigate teachers’ IT adoption in various educational contexts, adapt research models that include other predictors, and investigate and produce results on students’ perspectives regarding their initial and continuous adoption of the tablet PC within the Tablet Project context.

Turning the world on its head: The virus that disrupted “business as usual”

Turning the world on its head: The virus that disrupted “business as usual”

Sex-Related Invectives in the Arabic Language

The article is focused on words and expressions of the Arabic language, semantically related to the sexual sphere, in the context of their use as a means of verbal aggression. The author examines the prerequisites for acquiring invectiveness by copulatory vocabulary in both the Christian and Islamic worldviews, relying on the works of K. Allen and K. Burridge, J. Feinberg, G. Hughes, devoted to swear words in English-speaking culture, as well as the works of V.I. Zelvis on the means of verbal aggression in Russian language. In addition, this paper pays special attention to Arabic references, including the Quran, the writings of religious figures Abu Daoud, Ibn Qudama, Sayyid Hasan and the linguists Al-Razi and Al-Manshawi, particularly, their view on the problems of tabooing and invectivization of the sphere of sexual relations is analyzed.Discovery of the origins of the ban on mentioning of the copulatory topic in Arab society made it possible to determine the range of invective means related to this topic, which the author divides into three groups: sexual intercourse and its various forms, genitals and other private body parts, deviations in the sexual sphere. An important feature of the approach used in this article is that lexical units are considered primarily as means of delivering invective meaning to the addressee, associated with concepts that directly encapsulate that meaning. Implementing this approach, the author identifies the main invective concepts presented in the Arabic linguistic culture, and also makes out a list of lexemes associated with each concept. In order to study this vocabulary in detail and determine its role in the modern Arabic language, the author analyzes its etymology and functioning in invective speech constructions that actually exist in various Arabic idioms.