Sociocultural features of the Arabic academic discourse

Introduction

Academic discourse as a phenomenon attracts the attention of many linguists due to the complexity, variability and uncertainty of the processes that form it. In this work, discourse is understood as "a stable, socially and culturally defined tradition of human communication" ^{[13, p. 98]}. Also, academic discourse or scientific (in the terminology of V.I. Karasik) consists of such genre manifestations as an abstract, a scientific article, a dissertation (written format), a report, a lecture, a public speech (oral format) ^[14].

Arabic academic discourse is an important aspect in the study of academic discourse in general, since in the context of globalization, not only the English-language academic discourse, which is considered to be the main and leading one, has an impact on local academic discourses, but also the Arabic-language academic discourse has a certain impact on global academic discourse. Arabic academic discourse attracts the attention of Arabic-speaking linguists and philologists from the point of view of comparative analysis of English and Arabic academic discourses ^[1], from the point of view of studying cross-cultural features of Arabic academic discourse ^[6], from the point of view of analysis of Arabic academic discourse from the position of genre-structural analytical model ^{[7, 2]}, as well as from the point of view of the use by participants of the Arabic-language academic discourse of certain culturally specific constructions to achieve communicative goals ^[8].

In the Russian linguistic tradition, the study of Arabic academic discourse is practically not represented, and most of the works of Russian-speaking authors are devoted to areas related to Arabic academic discourse. For example, I.S. Karabulatova and N.V. Dubinina investigated the estimation-associative characteristic of the ethnonym "Arab" in the linguistic consciousness of students. Thus, they came to the conclusion that the reaction of students to the ethnonym "Arab" is due to extralinguistic factors based on life experience and the level of involvement in Arabic academic discourse ^[11]. Moreover, the Arabic academic discourse in the Russian linguistic tradition is studied from the perspective of applying the theory of negative politeness, proposed by P. Brown and S. Levinson in 1987. Thus, studies were conducted within the framework of verbal Jordanian academic discourse, which proved that certain grammatical and lexical constructions are used in Arabic academic discourse to express strategies of distancing between a teacher and a student ^[9].

Research methodology

The present study was conducted using an individual survey of Arabic-speaking students studying in higher educational institutions of the Levant countries. Students were asked to answer 10 questions in writing with examples from their academic life that affected such areas of academic discourse as social, psychological, and emotional. A total of 102 Arabic–speaking students from the Levant countries (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan) - native speakers took part in the survey. The following section presents the respondents' answers, which, according to the authors, reflect the key features of the Arabic academic discourse.

Such methods of linguistic analysis as descriptive, introspective, as well as the method of logical comparison were used in the work.

Research results

The communicative style of Arab cultures is characterized by status orientation, as well as intimacy; and language forms and careful choice of forms of address between communication participants indicate the importance of observing social hierarchy ^[5]. The location of a person on the social ladder in an Arabic-speaking society depends on several factors: ancestral affiliation (), average income and positions held by next of kin ( ), level of education (, , ), age (), the origin of the husband/wife ( ), role in the family – the father or mother of the boy ( ). The peculiarities of the communicative style of Arabs, as well as factors affecting the position of an Arab in the social hierarchy, are reflected in the Arabic-language academic discourse, as can be seen from the following responses of respondents.

Here are some questions and answers of students received during the survey. However, due to the fact that we interviewed Arabic–speaking students - native speakers of the Levant countries, the questions for the written questionnaire were compiled in Arabic. To understand the content, we offer original questions in Arabic and an author's translation.

(1)                     

(1)             Do you think that the teacher and the student are on equal terms? If your answer is "no", would you like the teacher and the student to be on equal terms? Why? (here and further our translation – H.A. and A.S. )

All Arabic-speaking respondents answered that the teacher and the student are not on an equal footing, and also would not like to be on an equal footing with the teacher. The desire of Arabic-speaking students to keep their distance from teachers is associated with a clear social hierarchy in an Arabic-speaking society. It should be noted that the violation of social norms (for example, to address a professor simply by name without using the name of the scientific degree ()) entails public censure and leads to a communicative failure, since in an Arabic-speaking society to a person with a candidate's degree or higher, It should be addressed as a scientific degree + name ( ) regardless of the context.

(2)

(2)          Do you treat teachers with respect? If your answer is "yes", then how is this respect expressed in your behavior and in the process of communicating with the teacher?

All respondents answered this question in the affirmative, and as examples of expressing respect within the framework of Arabic-language academic discourse, students cited the following situations:

- .

I always attend his lectures.

-

I do not refuse if the teacher asks me to bring him something or do something.

-

I answer politely, even if our views differ.

The expression of respect towards the teacher in the Arabic-language academic discourse is mainly expressed by the student's subordination to the teacher, the fulfillment of assignments by the students, as well as the student's personal presence in the classroom.

(3) .

(3)             Can you freely express your disagreement or your point of view in a conversation with a teacher? Give examples when you can.

More than half of the respondents answered that they can express their point of view or disagreement with the teacher, depending on the context of the conversation. For example, students noted that they could not openly express their disagreement with teachers regarding certain religious issues. It should be noted that the religious component plays one of the most important roles in many Arabic-speaking spheres, for example, political ^[3], economic ^[4], social ^[10].

 (4)

(4)             Does the teacher have influence over the students? If "yes", then how does it manifest itself?

All respondents answered positively to this question, and as examples of the teacher's influence over students, they cited the following:

.

The teacher may change my opinion about some political or social events

... . ...

He [the teacher] can say something about my father or another relative, and it will make me think. For example, once the professor said that he knew my father and my father's opinion coincided with the professor's opinion. It made me change my mind. 

.

The teacher can enter into a discussion with me, supplementing his arguments with historical factors of our country

Thus, we see that within the framework of the Arabic academic discourse, the teacher has full influence over the students, and the levers of control are family ties and personal acquaintances with those who are also an authority for students; the teacher confirms his words with historical examples.

(5):  

  ( ? )?

  ( ? ? ) ?

. ( )

(5)             How would you describe the relationship between a teacher and a student at your university:

- totalitarian relations (the teacher has unlimited influence over students, he is always right);

- authoritarian relations (teachers have influence over students, but at the same time students have the right to express themselves, obeying the teacher);

- egalitarian relations (teacher and student are equal).

The results of this question are presented in the form of the following diagram (see Figure 1):

Figure 1. Results of respondents' answers to question (5).

 Thus, 98 Arab students out of 102 answered that their university is dominated by totalitarian relations, in which the teacher has unlimited influence over the students and he is always right. Thus, totalitarian relations are characteristic not only of the Arab academic discourse, but also of Arab society as a whole, where totalitarian regimes are defined not only as despotic and trampling on the rights and freedoms of the population, but also as reactionary (close to military dictatorship), conservative (monarchical) and liberal (multiparty system) ^[12].

Conclusions

After conducting a written questionnaire in which 102 Arabic–speaking students - native speakers of Arabic took part, as well as analyzing the data obtained, we came to the conclusion that the main socio-cultural features of academic discourse in Arabic-speaking countries are: adherence to a hierarchical social system, strict compliance with the norms of student-teacher treatment. Moreover, the teacher has full influence on the student, and also uses interpersonal relationships to influence students.

We see prospects for further research of the problem in a more detailed study of the socio-cultural features of the Arabic academic discourse in a comparative aspect with the English and Russian academic discourses.