nahla nadeem | Cairo University (original) (raw)

Papers by nahla nadeem

QURANICA - International Journal of Quranic Research, Dec 28, 2018

The story ofAdam in Quran has often been explored either in relation to strictly Islamic concepts... more The story ofAdam in Quran has often been explored either in relation to strictly Islamic concepts-mainly Adam\u27s appointment as a Caliph on earth, the original sin and his ultimate repentance-or in comparison to the Bible and Torah versions. The present study aims to explore the story from a cognitive and psycholinguistic perspective. Drawing on the basic concepts of relational frame theory (RFT), the study analyzes the relational framing processes involved in describing the "tree" as forbidden by God and as a source of ptosperiry and etemiry by Satan. The analysis shows how the relational framing and reframing of the "tree\u27 functioned as the psychological conditions upon which Adam\u27s attitude towards the tree is formed and changed. The analysis also shows that Adam\u27s verbal behavior and cognitive abilities that are key to his superioriry and appointment as caliph on earth are equally responsible for his full

English Language and Literature Studies, 2021

Using personal experience narrative in different forms of teaching and preaching is so common tha... more Using personal experience narrative in different forms of teaching and preaching is so common that it is unsurprising that it has been the object of scholarly attention and research. The present study aims to apply Labov’s model of narrative structure to the personal experience narratives (PENs) in the sincerity hadith. Sincerity—“Alikhlas”—is defined as being deeply devoted to Allah by heart and actions. According to Islamic teachings, a sincere person not only has a deep fear of Allah, but his intentions in all actions are mainly to please Him. Drawing on Labov’s work on PEN structures (1972; initially Labov & Waletzky, 1967, 1981, 1997), the study attempts to answer two key questions: a) whether or not the Labovian model applies to the PENs in the hadith and b) how effective the model is in establishing the link between what was said (i.e., the stories told), how the narratives were structured and the Islamic concept the hadith was meant to teach. The analysis shows that though t...

Advances in Social Networking and Online Communities

This chapter explores how online news commentaries as a platform for social interaction can be co... more This chapter explores how online news commentaries as a platform for social interaction can be considered a form of social capital that later led to the Arab Spring Revolutions. In the study, social capital is conceptualized as consisting of two linguistically measurable variables: a) the emergence of the posters’ politicized collective identity (Simon & Klandermans, 2001; Simon, 2004) that emerges in the data through the foregrounding of certain shared aspects of the posters’ identity, mainly their Arab nationality; and b) the collaborative performance of face attacks and solidarity acts in the posting content. The data used are responses written to an article posted on the Al Jazeera Website describing the aftermath of the tragic suicide of the Tunisian Bouazizi. Drawing on contemporary theories of sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and social identity, the study provides empirical evidence that such online communication should be considered a social and political capital that can fost...

Gamified student response systems (GSRSs) have been increasingly used for formative assessment (F... more Gamified student response systems (GSRSs) have been increasingly used for formative assessment (FA) purposes in higher education. While previous studies on Kahoot! have given empirical evidence of the effectiveness of its gamified features in increasing students’ motivation, enhancing classroom dynamics and providing immediate feedback on students’ learning, the present study mainly investigates the students’ ratings of Kahoot! Quizzes (KQs) as a FA tool that facilitates the development of self-regulatory learning (SRL) skills. The study uses the seven principles of effective feedback to design a FA model that promotes students’ self- regulatory skills by defining the teacher’s role and students’ responsibilities while administering KQs. The study is a classroom action research that was done during a summer course and involved (n =70) female students in two linguistics courses. The researchers used a questionnaire and a focus group discussion to get students’ feedback on the effecti...

English Language and Literature Studies

The present study examines the rhetorical devices used by Brené Brown in a 99U conference Talk (2... more The present study examines the rhetorical devices used by Brené Brown in a 99U conference Talk (2013) in order to engage and persuade the audience that vulnerability is the seed of creativity and therefore, should be embraced as a stepping-stone to success. The study mainly explores the role conceptual blending theory plays in the exploitation of multimodal rhetorical devices, which include an inspirational quote, analogies and metaphors (both verbal and visual) and how they form a ‘mega-blend’ and a complex network of conceptual integration. The study also applies the conceptual blending model and the discursive process of framing in the analysis as crucial for the meaning construal of these multimodal rhetorical blends. The blending-framing analysis showed that these diverse rhetorical devices often require a complex multi-frame analysis and a larger mental space network of mappings to derive the intended message and achieve the intended rhetorical effect on the audience. The anal...

International Journal of Quranic Research

Narrative Inquiry

The present study aims to provide a conceptualization of how narratives function in TED talks. It... more The present study aims to provide a conceptualization of how narratives function in TED talks. It uses Bamberg’s positioning theory as a theoretical framework to build a communicative model of TED Talk narratives. TED narratives are “small stories” that are told, indeed performed, in the presence of an audience and designed to accomplish particular rhetorical aims. The model specifically investigates (1) how genre features affect the design and rhetorical aims of TED talk narratives, (2) TED speaker’s narrative positioning and multi-modal narrative performance, (3) evidence of the audience’s engagement in the narrative and finally, (4) TED narratives as a scaffold for potential individual and social change. Using a multi-modal discourse analysis approach, the model is applied to the narratives used in Guy Winch’s TED Talk (Winch, 2015). The model provides an analytical tool for investigating the dynamic interaction and semiotic signaling involved in the communicative performance of ...

International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

Student engagement is a multidimensional construct that includes four distinct, though interrelat... more Student engagement is a multidimensional construct that includes four distinct, though interrelated, aspects: behavioral, emotional, agentive, and cognitive engagement. The present study investigates students' perceptions about the impact of Padlet as a learning and assessment tool on the four aspects of class engagement. Padlet is a virtual wall that allows students to interact and contribute to class discussions and at the same time provides teachers with feedback on the learning process. The exploratory study was conducted on 27 female students in a 3-credit sociolinguistics course in which Padlet was used as a learning and assessment tool. At the end of the course, a survey and a personal interview were used to get students' feedback on the effectiveness of Padlet through addressing various aspects of their perceived engagement. The results showed that using Padlet enhanced student engagement, fostered active learning and offered positive assessment experiences. Its perc...

Narrative Inquiry, 2016

Autobiographical narrative is “a selective reconstruction of the ruminative past” and an account ... more Autobiographical narrative is “a selective reconstruction of the ruminative past” and an account that serves to explain, for the self and others, how the person came to be whom s/he is at present (McAdams, 2011) and thus can provide a rich source of data for sociolinguistic analysis and a speculation in the studies of identity construction processes and narrative combined. The present paper aims to investigate how narrators — through the subtle exploitation of tense patterns manage to reflect an integrated vision of their identity and evaluate these identity construction processes. To do this, I will a) develop a model of identity construction and evaluation processes in autobiographical narrative that is based upon the writings of McAdams (1985 & 2011) and Luyckx et al. (2011)’s identity model; b) closely examine how narrators subtly use tense patterns to combine the acts of narrative with moments of reflection and finally, c) relate these linguistic features of autobiographical na...

Establishing Credibility and Influence, 2000

This chapter examines the online identities of protestors and their transnational audiences that ... more This chapter examines the online identities of protestors and their transnational audiences that emerged across social media platforms during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Using the framework of assemblage theory, the authors argue that these online identities emerged as a result of the assemblages of dissent that formed between protestors and their audiences. In particular, they argue that, as protestors and their transnational audiences came together in assemblages of dissent, both gained emergent online identities as activists in the transnational mediatized event of the revolution. Protestors initiated these relationships through petitions for audiences to join the Facebook page “We are All Khaled Said” and follow the Twitter hashtag #Jan25; their catalogue of grievances against Mubarak’s regime; and, finally, their digital assertions of lived experiences of violence. As transnational audiences took up these texts as invitations to participate in the doing of this mediatized event, they responded by “liking,” commenting, retweeting, and creating new texts of their own. As a result, both protestors and their audiences around the globe gained online identities as activists in the revolution.