The role of the target language culture on Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry

Li Gao; Kai Wang; Qian Yang; Yiwei Lu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1310343

The role of the target language culture on Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry

Front Psychol. 2024 May 2:15:1310343. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1310343. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Li Gao¹, Kai Wang², Qian Yang², Yiwei Lu²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Corpus Studies and Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Arabic, School of Asian and African Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

As an important carrier of culture, poetry plays a significant role in deepening language learners' understanding of the target language culture as well as enhancing their language skills; however, the effect of the target language culture on language learners' enjoyment of poetry remains unclear. The study served as an attempt to shed light on the point of whether the target language culture has different effects on high- and low-level Chinese Arabic learners' fondness for Arabic poetry with the use of pictures related to Arabic culture and those not related to Arabic culture. In the current study, 40 Arabic learners (20 high-level and 20 low-level) scored the Arabic poem line based on their fondness for it after viewing two kinds of picture with electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. Frontal alpha asymmetry index as a correlate of approach and avoidance related motivation measured by EEG power in the alpha band (8-13 Hz) was calculated for examining whether the behavioral results of Arabic learners' fondness for poetry are in line with the results of changes in the related EEG components. Behavioral results illustrated that low-level subjects showed significantly less liking for Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arabic culture compared to those not related to Arabic culture. The high-level subjects did not show a significant difference in the level of liking for Arabic poetry between the two cases. FAA results demonstrated that low-level subjects presented a significant avoidance-related responses to Arabic poetry after viewing pictures related to Arabic culture in comparison to viewing pictures not related to Arabic culture; while the FAA values did not differ significantly between the two cases in high-level subjects, which is in line with behavioral results. The findings of this research can benefit teachers in motivating students to learn poetry in foreign language curriculum and also contribute to the literature on the effect of target language culture on language learners' enjoyment of poetry.

Keywords: Arabic learners; EEG; fondness for Arabic poetry; frontal alpha asymmetry; target language culture.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by Cognitive Neural Mechanisms of Reception of Arabic Poetry and Its Translations (41004400/005) of Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China (CN). This article is also a phased research result of the postgraduate tutor-led project “Arab Dystopian Literature in the Post-Arab Spring Era” (41004343) at Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China (CN).