Arabizi Case Study

On a Friday night, while the family was gathering at my grandfathers’ house, we were watching television. My grandpa suddenly shouts out “where is the Hakoom?”, no one understood what he meant by “hakoom” but when he corrected the word and said “remote control” the remote was handed in to him. This issue, Arabizi penetrating the Arab world, gave rise to Dalia al Kury to film the documentary, Arabizi. The production company O3 filmed the documentary in Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt. These specific countries were chosen; as Jordan represents the Sham countries, Kuwait, the GCC and Egypt, the African Arabic countries. Arabizi is the mixing of Arabic with English; as Arabs claim that they can express themselves more clearly. To be more specific as mentioned in the article, In Jordan the Young and Hip Speak Arabizi “It is easier to express yourself in English about topics that are considered taboo, like sex”(Villelebeitia,I.,2005, In Jordan the Young and Hip Speak Arabizi, Reuters, 17 December).

The documentary, Arabizi, indicates the spread of this phenomenon in the Middle East. Moreover, the film interviews professors from different areas that explain how Arabizi is affecting the Arabic language and if it causes any identity crises. It is known that Arabizi builds a meaningful reference to how this hybrid language has a weak identity, to clear up; it doesn’t retaliate to the national standards. Around ten minutes into the documentary, Dalia Al Kury interviews Khaldoun Al-Naqib a Political sociology professor in Kuwait University where he analyses this diverse. Professor Khaldoun discusses the weaknesses of Arabizi. Also, he rationalizes how we should not be afraid of this transitional phenomenon. Kuwait University is a public university where the courses are taught in English. Dr. Khaldoun concludes that teaching in English is scandalous, in this manner; universities dominant goal is to glorify the local culture to a higher level. In other words, when universities teach in English they do not benefit the local culture as they decrease the popularity of the Arabic language. Moreover, not only the local culture will be affected but also the new generation where they would not know their roots properly. As a result, English overcomes the Arabic culture and creates the diverse, Arabizi.

In addition, Europeans do not show any kind of interest in the Arabic language, for instance, European universities teach in their language and they are proud of it. This phenomenon helps in the increase of the use of Arabizi around teenagers. Certainly because it creates an appalling concept of life where they grow up with the effect of the west entering their culture, in spite of that, Arabic is not treated the same way by the west. Hence, making the Arab youths keen towards English as they grow up with it, therefore, creating this diverse. Technology and media are one of the main reasons behind the creation of this hybrid language. Dalia al Kury interviews Shareef Badruddin, a marketing executive for MBC, which makes the documentary very credible as MBC channels are one of the most popular channels in the Arab world. MBC Group includes 10 television channels three of them; MBC 2, MBC 4 and MBC Action.

These channels broadcast 24-hour English movies brought from the west and mostly from Hollywood, America. During his interview he asserts how series and movies from the Middle East are financially prosperous however, Arabs still keen towards the wests’ entertainment. Furthermore, Badruddin doesn’t stop here, he also describes how this generation, Generation X, were born around technology and they grew up with the internet surrounding them. Also, Social networking influenced their language where they talk about downloading, CDs and DVDs and not knowing their synonyms in Arabic. On the other hand, the west do not show much interest in the Arabic Media, making the Arabs think that the wests language is superior causing this diverse, Arabizi, to be created.

The documentary, Arabizi, explores the debate from different perspectives starting from opinions of academics that explain the phenomenon from different angles criticizing this hybrid language and the identity it generates to Youngers supporting this diverse. However, Dalia al Kury doesn’t express her personal opinion in the documentary but leaves it to her interviewees. Moreover, her three main interviewees, Ayesha Khaldeen, Lamia Tawfeeq and Wisam Dhubaibah, are young people where Al kury follows them around to find out more about their daily routines concentrating on how frequently they use Arabizi.

These Youngers claim that they do not have an identity crisis though the professors describe this as a blurry vision as they cannot see the fact that their identity is being affected by the English language. In addition, Al kury interviews their family as well as people from the street to ask about what they think of Arabizi speakers. In this way Dalia Al Kury covers all angles of the issue of Arabizi invading the Arab world and making the documentary credible. Arabizi is a highly suggested documentary as it shows that Arabizi speakers have a weak identity, moreover, it contains opinions of people from different prescriptive and from different generations. The goal of this documentary was achieved where it gave awareness to the young Arabs to be more careful with the language they use and that they should take more care of the Arabic language. Finally, the documentary covers different point of views from different countries making the documentary genuine.

References:

Ibkis. (2010, September 19). Arabizi [Video file].
http://www.ikbis.com/shots/256844
Villelebeitia,I.,2005, In Jordan the Young and Hip Speak Arabizi, Reuters, 17 December

Essay Title: Hakoom? say what?
Introduction
On a Friday night, where the family was gathering at my grandfathers’ house, we were watching television. My grandpa suddenly shouts out “where is the Hakoom?”, no one understood what he meant by “hakoom” but when he corrected the word and said “remote control” everyone understood . ( summary of the document, the production, where was it filmed)

II. Body Paragraph One:

Topic Sentence: It is known that Arabizi builds a meaningful reference to how this hybrid language has a weak identity, to clear up; it doesn’t retaliate to the national standards
Supporting Ideas/Examples:

A. Khaldoun Al-Naqib a Political sociology professor in Kuwait University
talks about Arabizi having a weak identity

B. Universities effect on the Arabic language

C. how the west view the Arabic language

III. Body Paragraph Two:

Topic Sentence: Technology is one of the main reasons behind the creation of this hybrid language. Dalia al Kury interviews Shareef Badruddin
Supporting Ideas/Examples:

A.English movies brought from the west

B.how series and movies from the Middle East are financially prosperous

C. the effect of the west on the Arabic language and if they show any interst

IV. Body Paragraph Three:

Topic Sentence: Arabizi explores the debate from different perspectives starting from opinions of academics that explain the phenomenon from different angles criticizing this hybrid language and the identity it generates to Youngers supporting this diverse.

Supporting Ideas/Examples:

A. Dalia al Kury doesn’t express her personal opinion in the documentary

B. The young Arabizi speakers having a blury vision

C. Families being interviewed

D. All angles of the debate is covered

V. Conclusion

Brief summary of your points
Does the film achieve its goals?
Arabizi is a highly suggested documentary as it shows that Arabizi has a weak identity moreover, it contains the opinions of people from different prescriptive and from different generations.

Self-evaluation
When I first started to write the essay, I struggled with coming up with ideas and did not know what the points that attracted me in the documentary are as the documentary has many interesting points. I watched the documentary twice before writing the essay and it helped me a lot, as well as I asked some of my friends what do they think of Arabizi speakers and it helped me a lot with making ideas. Furthermore I read some articles on the internet about Arabizi which influenced me a lot. I did not have time to go to the writing centre as I am currently not in the Uae, therefore I asked some of my friends to do me a peer review. Finally after going through the grading criteria I expect myself to get an 80/100 in this assignment.