Fatma Gad

Abstract

This study is a descriptive quantitative study which examines text superstructure patterns of opinion articles written in Arabic by native Arabic-speakers. It addresses three questions: 1) What is/are the rhetorical superstructure pattern(s) of Arabic argumentative texts represented in newspaper political/social opinion articles? And what are the frequencies of these patterns? 2) Where, in these opinion articles, do Arab writers prefer to introduce their "general thesis"? And 3) What are the argument constructions and forms used by Arab writers within opinion articles? By utilizing an adapted Problem-Solution analysis pattern to answer the study’s questions, the text superstructure of 26 opinion newspaper articles on political/social topics selected from the national Egyptian daily newspaper “Al-Ahram” were analyzed. The results of the analysis show that there are two common superstructure patterns frequently used by Arab writers (namely; (situation)-problem-solution-conclusion and (situation)-problem-conclusion). Furthermore, the analysis shows that there is a preference to introduce the "general thesis" of the article in the initial position. The results also show various argument constructions and forms used within the articles. The research identifies more precisely the argumentative text superstructure choices that are distinctive and seem natural to Arabic speakers. The research results indicate some general as well as classroom pedagogical implications for teaching Arabic reading and writing to AFL students. The discussion of the limitations of the study brings about some dimensions for further research studies.

Date of Award

6-1-2008

Online Submission Date

10-19-2014

First Advisor

El-Essawi, Raghda

Committee Member 1

Badawi, El Said

Committee Member 2

El-Seoud, Dalal

Document Type

Thesis

Extent

85 p.

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright.

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IRB

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