MAKING SENSE OF LANGUAGE OF PEACE: THE CASE OF IRAQI POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS’ NARRATIVES

Authors

  • Ali Salah Department of Language Studies, School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy, Universiti Utara, Malaysia
  • Minah Harun Department of Language Studies, School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy, Universiti Utara, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v0i0.2302

Keywords:

language of peace, narratives, discourse, focus group discussion, in-depth interviews, Iraq

Abstract

This paper discusses the language of peace by making sense of the Iraqi students’ narratives on their experience in their country. It explores how the people who experience war situations talk about their desires of having peace. The paper argues that positive discourse can be strategically engineered to empower people to use language that promotes peace and harmony in daily communication in particular when conflict situations exist. By listening to the laymen discourse, we can observe how language users construct peace through their selection of language. For this purpose, eight Iraqi students from a public university in Malaysia participated in the study based on a purposive sampling. The following criteria were employed: (i) They have experienced war situations in Iraq; (ii) They come from various regions; and (iii) They are able to articulate their experience freely given the maturity of their age. Data were collected through the pilot study comprising focus group discussion and in-depth interviews, and analysed using the thematic content approach. The results reveal the varied ways the participants’ use language to frame their feelings and perspectives of the notion of peace and factors that hinder peace situations. The paper also provides several implications and recommendations for future studies on peace language.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Ali Salah, Department of Language Studies, School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy, Universiti Utara, Malaysia

    Ali Salah previously taught English literature in English Language Department at the University of Samarra (Government University) in Salah Al-Din Governorates/Iraq. Prior to that, he taught Applied Linguistics at Alma’arf University College (Private University) in Al Anbar Governorates/Iraq. His Ph.D. research involves examining the language of peace and the factors that enhance/hinder peace situation in human communication.

  • Minah Harun, Department of Language Studies, School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy, Universiti Utara, Malaysia
    Minah Harun (PhD in Communication, Ohio) is senior lecturer at the School of Languages, Civilization and Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia. She is a life member of Editors Association Malaysia and Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics. Her current interests include interpersonal communication, interethnic communication, language and communication, discourse analysis, hospitality language, and learner difficulties.

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Published

2019-03-01

Issue

Vol 4, No 3 (2019)

Section

Articles

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