A modernized discourse among Algerian youth on social networking : case study of Romanized Arabic

Abstract EN

The accessibility to new technological devices and social media platforms led to the emergence of a new form of written Arabic script among Algerian young users named Arabizi, composed of Roman alphabet and which adheres the rule of writing simultaneously as speaking.

The present paper aims at (i) synthesizing the samples of Arabizi in order to determine its characteristic features, and (ii) to understand and explain the reasons behind these tendencies.

The Findings were collected by adopting a qualitative research design with the use of a Text Corpus analysis approach applied on written discourse uttered by Algerian EFL students on a Facebook page, who study at the Department of English, University of Guelma, Algeria.

The compiled results revealed that the users produce an electronic discourse, which varies in terms of transliteration from one interlocutor to another, and in which features of code-switching into French and English are spotted.

The non-standard application of the Latin orthography caused character ambiguity in relation to the corresponding Algerian Arabic alphabet.

Moreover, a distinction has been made between the transliterated structures and electronic texting as many of the extracted forms comprise chat abbreviations in English and French; which are not linked to Arabic conventions.