Graffiti on the walls of Irbid's school : a linguistic study

Other Title(s)

الكتابة على جدران مدارس إربد : دراسة لغوية

Dissertant

Abd al-Qadir, Muhammad Musa Hasan

Thesis advisor

al-Khawlidah, Muhammad Arshid Said

Comitee Members

Abd al-Haqq, Fawwaz Muhammad
al-Rashdan, Bashshar Shahir
al-Jarrah, Muhammad Ali

University

Mutah University

Faculty

Faculty of Arts

Department

Department of English Language and Literature

University Country

Jordan

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2015

English Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the linguistic functions expressed by the written expressions on Irbid's schools' walls and to investigate the impact of these functions.

The study tries to answer these questions firstly, what category is the most frequent among these expressions? Secondly, what are the general categories of these written expressions on Irbid's schools' walls? Thirdly, what are the differences between these written expressions in male and female schools? Fourthly, to what extent do these written expressions vary between public and private schools? Fifthly, what are the differences between these written expressions in elementary schools and secondary schools? It has been recognized that graffiti on schools' walls has become a natural phenomenon and it has been increased recently. Four hundred and thirty three written expressions were collected from forty five schools which are divided as the following: one hundred and sixty four from fifteen male schools, one hundred and eighty three from fifteen female schools, seventy seven from ten elementary schools and nine from five private schools.

A Few interviews were made by the researcher.

The researcher interviewed a few teachers. The results have shown that there are four categories of these written expressions.

Firstly, there are written expressions related to religion and beliefs (the first rank) thirty two per cent.

Secondly, there are written expressions related to patriotism, loyalty and belonging, twenty nine per cent. Thirdly, there are written expressions related to proverbs and poetry twenty two per cent.

Fourthly, there are written expressions related to warnings and cultural instructions ( the last rank) seventeen per cent. There is no huge difference between male and female schools except one function which is warning and cultural instructions: thirteen per cent for male schools, and twenty one per cent for female schools. But there is a clear difference between public schools and private schools. The function of religion and beliefs in private schools is forty four per cent, whereas it is thirty two per cent in public schools.

The other function which is patriotism and loyalty is relatively high.

It reaches fifty six per cent in private schools and only twenty eight per cent in public schools.

There is nothing about the other two functions (proverbs and cultural instructions). In addition, the results indicate that the two most frequent expressions are those which are related to religion and beliefs, and patriotism and loyalty. Finally, these written expressions can reflect the cultures, habits, customs, and the traditions of the Jordanian people.

Main Subjects

Comparative Literature
Languages & Comparative Literature

No. of Pages

66

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-730418