Iraqi EFL Learners’ Cultural Schematization: A Cultural Approach to Role Schema and the Learners’ Non-Native Like Production of Some Official Titles

Abstract

Non-native like expressions were observed in Iraqi EFL learners' oral production during their conversation course as they resorted to literal translation to compensate for their inadequate knowledge of the English lexicon. Their choice of literal equivalents was not arbitrary but a schema-driven selection. In the case of official titles, for example, learners employed their cultural schematization to the conceptual contents of English official titles, unaware of its potential difference from the English schematization. This study explores the possible cultural role schemas underlying Iraqi EFL learners' frequent use of  'president' in some official titles. It seems that various central role schemas are associated with these titles and that there is no particular unified schema underlies the word 'president'. Actually, a variety of schemas interact together, formulating the role schemas and their relevant linguistic instantiations in English and Arabic in light of their natives' thinking styles and ways of perceiving the world.