Al-Noor Journal for Humanities

Abstract This study explores the poetics of absence and identity in the novel History of the son by French writer Marie-Hélène Lafon. The novel, which belongs to contemporary French fiction, revolves around questions of lineage, memory and family story. The research aims at analysing how the individual identity is constructed in the context of paternal absence and how this absence becomes a central narrative force forming the protagonist’s life. The study adopts a narratological and semiotic approach drawing on both classical and contemporary French critical works, including those of Gérard Genette, Paul Ricoeur and Bruno Blanckeman, in order to understand the mechanism of through which narrative identity and family memory are constructed. The novel demonstrates that the absence of the father is not merely a structural gap in the family system; rather, it becomes a symbolic void that profoundly influences the protagonist André’s perception of himself and his place within the family and the society. Ultimately, the novel suggests that identity is a dynamic construct shaped by memory, time and familial relationships, where the research for the father becomes a deeper quest for self-understanding and belonging.

Abstract The Holy Quran employs various rhetorical features to address the issues that people encounter daily. One such device is euphemism, which refers to an indirect word or expression used in place of one considered too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Euphemisms are used throughout the Qur'an to handle sensitive issues and societal taboos, such as sexual activity, death, punishment, personal behaviour, and disease. This study aims to explore AI translations of sexual euphemistic expressions in the Holy Quran into English. The study utilised data from sexual euphemistic terms found in the verses of the Holy Quran to investigate the AI applications' translations. The translations of two AI applications (Google Translate & DeepL) were analysed in terms of accuracy and comprehensibility. The study mainly depends on Al-Tabari's interpretation of the Holy Quran to extract the intended meaning of the sexual euphemistic expressions. The researcher found that the disparity in cultural values, social attitudes, and religious beliefs makes it difficult for AI applications to transfer sexual euphemism expressions from the Holy Quran into English. To conduct an accurate and comprehensible translation of sexual euphemistic words, AI must seek human assistance regarding linguistic precision, theological and interpretive knowledge, and deep respect for the divine text.

Abstract The study aims at answering a central question: Does lying in the play “Le Grand Menteur”, “The Great Liar” by the French writer Laurent Gaudé, constitute a moral deviation from the truth, or does it become an existential mechanism for self-reconstruction in a world devoid of meaning? This study adopts a methodological approach drawing on critical, philosophical, and existentialist methods, alongside integrated analytical tools, to examine the three dramatic texts that form the structure of the world and bind its characters in complex relationships. The study reached a series of conclusion, the most important of which is that the play transcends the traditional binary between truth and falsehood, it suggests that human identity is a choice rather than a given meaning?, and that for the marginalized the individual, illusion is transformed into a form of dignity and freedom, the study also concludes that love alone represents the absolute truth that stands beyond the realm of fabrication and falsification, whilst the lie, in its creative and existential sense, remains a refined form of human resistance against a world that has no room for dreams and does not do realize justice to those on the margins























DOI: https://doi.org/10.69513/jnfh.v4.i2.a10 ©Authors, 2026, College of Education, Alnoor University.
This is an open-access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract This study aims to explore the motivation kind that Iraqi university learners rely on during reading comprehension lectures, and the motivational learning strategies they employ to understand the given English texts while reading them. Adopting a descriptive research design, data were collected through the MSL survey from a sample of 170 second-year students at the Department of English, University of Mosul, Iraq. The results revealed that the learners were primarily driven by external motives, such as academic recognition and obtaining grades more than by internal ones like self-enjoyment and reading interest. Furthermore, the findings indicated that learners show a low confidence in their English reading skills. Regarding learning strategies, the findings showed that students use practical, hands-on techniques (like rehearsing words or connecting the text to their own life) more frequently than strategies for managing their own learning (like planning how to approach a text or checking their understanding as they read).
The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to curriculum designers and teachers, highlighting the need to foster intrinsic motivation and enhance strategic reading competence among learners.
Keywords: Reading Motivation, Learning Strategies, EFL Learners, Reading Comprehension, University Students.

Abstract Abstract
This study tackles the translation of the rhetorical device istikhdam in Arabic literary texts into English. For its unique characteristics and the difficulty involved in fulfilling its conditions, it might be regarded a complicated phenomenon in the process of translation. The study highlights what is meant by istikhdam and how the rhetorical impact on the reader is created. It explores the strategies employed in the process of translation to preserve its dual meaning and rhetorical impact on the target language. It is hypothesized that there is no -one - to one correspondence between istikhdam in Arabic literary texts and its equivalent in English as a result of the linguistic and cultural differences between the two languages. The study revealed that translating istikhdam into English is a dilemma for most of the translators as a result of their limited awareness of this stylistic device. Moreover, the absence of the corresponding lexical item prevents the conveynce of the same two intended meanings in English. To enhance the effectiveness and fidelity of translation, the study proposed adopting dynamic equivalence and cultural adaptation to overcome this linguistic and cultural gap at the expense of the rhetorical impact of stikhdam.

Abstract This study explores how emotionally charged language in the Qur’an. It is understood here as affective meaning, i.e., the emotional and psychological resonance of Qur’anic vocabulary, and is preserved or altered across different English translations, including those generated by artificial intelligence, specifically OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4. Using a qualitative comparative approach informed by Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory and Steiner’s Hermeneutic Motion, it examines selected Qur’anic verses translated by Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Sahih International, and ChatGPT-4. The analysis reveals that human translators tend to convey greater theological nuance and emotional depth, whereas AI-generated translations often prioritize syntactic precision, sometimes at the expense of emotional resonance. These results indicate both GPT-4’s strengths and its limitations when handling the translation of sacred and emotionally nuanced texts. By highlighting the ethical and interpretive challenges involved, the analysis points to the need for human supervision. Some limitations reflect the qualitative approach and the limited selection of texts. Still, this study begins to connect the evaluation of sacred text translation with AI analysis. In future research, scholars might expand the dataset. Employing computational techniques could also deepen understanding at this emerging intersection.

Abstract Abstract
The current research sheds light on the role of feedback as a fundamental educational tool, reveals its effectiveness and associated strengths and limitations within pedagogical settings. It shows how feedback effectively supports student learning and analyzes its broader impact on educational outcomes. Guided by two primary research questions, how feedback facilitates learning and its primary benefits and drawbacks, the study utilizes a qualitative methodology grounded in an extensive literature review. Sources come from scholarly books, journals, and empirical studies within education, psychology, and pedagogy, prioritizing publications from the past two decades. Thematic analysis extracts key insights and recurring patterns. The analysis indicates that feedback significantly contributes to learning, enhances motivation, and fosters academic and linguistic competence. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of feedback is contingent upon several key factors, including the appropriateness of its timing, the method by which it is delivered, and the clarity with which it is conveyed. The study ultimately concludes that feedback fulfills both corrective and motivational functions; however, to achieve its full potential, it must be strategically employed and tailored to the specific educational context. When applied with deliberate intent and situational awareness, feedback emerges not only as a fundamental component of effective pedagogy but also as a powerful driver of continuous, lifelong learning.

Abstract Grammar has been an essential aspect of language teaching for years. To enable learners to achieve communicative competence, they require to master its constituent parts, with grammar competence being a key element. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the effectiveness of utilizing the 4Es instructional model on enhancing first-year EFL university students’ learning and achievement in English grammar. The population of the present study was all first-year EFL university students enrolled at Northern Technical University/Technical Engineering College of Mosul (TECM) with a total population of (758) students distributed across seven major departments for the first course of the academic year 2024-2025. To proceed, one department, viz. The Department of Chemical and Petroleum Industries Techniques Engineering, was chosen randomly to be the sample of the study, which composed of (52) participants: Group A (25), and Group B (27). Thereafter, Group A was randomly assigned as the experimental group, and Group B as the control group. The experimental group was instructed according to the 4Es instructional model, whereas the control group was instructed according to the prescribed method, i.e. the deductive approach to teaching English grammar. After conducting the experiment for precisely (10) weeks and five days; it was concluded that the 4Es instructional model, which involves activities that promote grammar noticing and selecting, consciousness-raising, practicing, and evaluation were proved to be effective in optimizing first-year EFL university students learning and achievement in English grammar.

Abstract This study aims to investigate rendering of metadiscourse resources in consecutive interpreting from English into Arabic. Metadiscourse has been extensively studied in written genres—academic writing, advertisements, textbooks, and popular science articles—there is a significant gap in the exploration of how metadiscourse is interpreted, conveyed, or perhaps lost during consecutive interpreting of political texts . This research aims to close this gap by investigating the extent to which student interpreters recognize and reproduce metadiscourse elements in consecutive interpreting from English into Arabic. Political text is chosen because it is rich in rhetorical devices and persuasive strategies, making them fertile ground for metadiscourse analysis .It is hypothesized that metadiscourse is context-bound and multifunctional. The data draw on a speech delivered by Boris Johnson (2021) interpreted by ten MA candidates at the Department of Translation , University of Mosul. Hyland's (2005) model and Nida's (1964)model are adopted in the analysis and interpreting metadiscourse resources employed in the text . The study revealed that the students could not capture the rhetorical function of metadiscourse resources that caused inadequate and undesirable output.

Abstract At the beginning of his appointment, Nabu-bēl-shumāti played the role of Assyria’s loyal friend, but at the same time he was planning to join Shamash-shum-ukin, hoping to gain some spoils if the rebellion succeeded. The main reason behind his participation in the revolt was the persistent Chaldean ambition to make Babylonia independent from Assyria. When Nabu-bēl-shumāti fled to Elam, he took with him many prisoners from the Assyrian military garrisons stationed in the Sealand.
 

Abstract Fantasy literature is a literary style that differs from realistic literature, as it goes beyond the traditional boundaries and norms of this narrative in dealing with familiar and unfamiliar phenomena. It is based on the hesitation felt by the character, who knows nothing but the laws of nature, when he faces events that appear to be supernatural.
This hesitation stems from a mental - cognitive - question that the character lives and the reader identifies with about the affiliation of the narrated text, does it return to reality or to imagination? This confusion in interpreting the narrated events results in a series of emotional reactions that lead to the creation of fantasy atmospheres (scary and terrifying).
Fantasy themes are the heart of this style, as they are recorded:
1- Through strange events, and these events are usually characterized by mystery; To achieve several functions within the text, such as fear, panic, terror and tension.
2- These topics are also determined through exaggeration, which is the standard and basic starting point for this logic.
This study discusses fantasy topics - unfamiliar - such as metamorphosis, humanization and perversion, which are linked to intellectual and moral meanings in dealing with reality, and the research concluded that these topics are the most effective way to reveal reality, because of the major transformations that contemporary man undergoes with all its political, social and cultural fluctuations.

Abstract The research aims to reveal the patterns verbal sentence in the poem of the poet anas al-daghim: (and now), and the goal of the discovery is to stand on the connotations of those patterns and what their difference achieves in documenting the meanings that the poet aims through his text. The diversity in the verbal crisis and the alternation of its occurrence between the past temporal significance and the present or future temporal significance programs the historical events in the content of the poem through the reader’s penetration into facts that were and continue, in addition to anticipating what they may be in the future. The patterns of the verbal sentence create a painting that translates reality with its two aspects, the sublime and the weak, through a grammatical analysis that adopts the classification of verbs according to the temporal standard and the standard of its necessity for its agent or its transitivity and its emergence or concealment, in addition to investigating the context of the verbs in terms of their occurrence alone or linked to the tools that may work in it at the level of grammar and meaning, or at the level of meaning only.

Abstract This research deals with the patterns of dialogue formation in one of Ghassan Kanafani's stories, which is the story of the Forbidden Weapon from his collection of short stories, The Land of Sad Oranges, according to Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of dialogue. He first discussed the concept of dialogue in language and terminology, its function, conditions and types, and then discussed the principle of dialogue according to Mikhail Bakhtin, who is considered the inventor of this term, as he considered it the basis of prose work in general and the novel and story in particular, as the art of the novel is a dialogic art, and dialogue revolves through Bakhtin's vision in two aspects from an interactive perspective, which are external dialogue and internal dialogue. After that, the principle of dialogue, its manifestations and patterns in the story of the Forbidden Weapon were discussed by presenting many dialogue models representing the two aspects of dialogue as defined by Bakhtin and their interaction with each other to produce the complete meaning. The research showed how dialogue in its two aspects had a great impact in revealing the ideologies of the story characters, forming the plot and creating the conflict, leading to producing the general and intentional meaning of dialogue in the story of the weapon. Muharram.

Abstract This research aims to shed light on the mechanisms of interactive communication through the collection of short stories ( (Ash''ath .. Aghbar) for the storyteller Ahmed neighbor God Yassin ), a collection of very short stories distinguished by its humorous and satirical style of reality and society, in which the storyteller tries, in his distinctive style, to point out the negative aspects present in society and from several aspects: social, political, educational, moral, and other aspects that the storyteller has diagnosed. This study comes in two directions:
One of them is communicative, represented by Shannon and Weaver''s communicative theory, which is a linear theory that addressed the issue of noise and interference in the communication process, and this theory is very important. Because it focused on the issue of getting the message and also focused on the role of the mediator.
The second trend is the interactive reading of these stories via social media. This group attracted audiences and their interaction had a significant impact on understanding the content of the messages that the storyteller wanted to send through these stories

Abstract Disagreement has long persisted between the two grammatical schools of Basra and Kufa regarding various issues addressed in their books and debates. It has become common for later grammarians to adopt the views of their predecessors, sometimes treating them as unquestionable truths in their own positions. Among the works that have focused on these disagreements is Al-Insaf fi Masa'il al-Khilaf by Ibn al-Anbari (577 AH), in which he compiled most of these issues. The book includes 121 issues, and in some of them, he sided with the Basra school.
Today, I encountered a matter in this book-namely, Ibn al-Anbari's inclination toward one school's opinion that calls for reflection and reconsideration. This may lead us to adopt a view that differs from his. Therefore, I have chosen five issues in which he sided with the Basrans, and after studying them, I found that the Kufan opinion is more compelling. I have endeavored to clarify this.
The research plan is based on examining each of these five issues individually, following their order in Al-Insaf, as follows:
1. The disagreement over the origin of noun derivation.
2. The view of (nasib al-ism al-mashghul 'anhu).
3. The view on vocative usage of nouns prefixed with “al-".
4. Whether it is permissible to conjoin (with "wa") a genitive pronoun.
5. Preventing declension of words that are normally declinable in poetic necessity The door remains open for researchers to follow this path in service of our noble Arabic language. And from Allah Al-Mighty comes success

Abstract
      Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, has homered the noble angels with great and numerous tasks which they perform, and He has enabled them to carry out these duties in the most perfect manner. There is no way for us to know these works and duties except through what Allah Almighty has informed us of in His Glorious Book and the Sunnah of His noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Among those great tasks with which Allah has honored His angels, and which He has mentioned in His Holy Book, are tasks related to the believers. The noble angels have duties concerning people in general and the believers in particular. Among their tasks toward the believers are: their alternation among them, being entrusted as messengers and envoys of Allah Almighty to His prophets and messengers, peace be upon them, for the conveyance of the divine revelations, as well as fighting alongside the believers, strengthening them in their battles, and granting them victory over the disbelievers.
Upon enumerating these descriptions, it became clear that they amount to sixteen attributes, which we have divided into two sections. In the first section, we dealt with the descriptions of the tasks related to supporting the believers in their battles, and these are five descriptions: the descent of the angels from heaven to aid them in war; marking them with distinguishing signs during battle; making them murdafīn (that is, following one another in succession); making them soldiers and granting them actual participation in battle; and finally, making them paired, meaning that each group of angels is joined with another. These were arranged according to the order of their occurrence in the Holy Qur’an. In the second section, we addressed the descriptions of the other tasks, which are four in number. Since we are limited by the number of pages, we could not analyze all the descriptions; therefore, in the first section, we selected three descriptions for analysis, and in the second section, we analyzed two of them, in order to achieve balance between the two sections.

Abstract  Critical studies of Orientalism are both the most important and the most difficult, as they require critical fundamental factors, including objectivity and fairness, experience and familiarity with Orientalists' work, and the critical and analytical capacity required of anyone undertaking a critique of Orientalism. Many studies have addressed the critique of Orientalism within the realm of history, politics, and doctrine, to the point that many have led to the illusion that Orientalist efforts fall solely within these frameworks. This is at a time when Orientalist efforts were vast, and many of them had ample contributions. It is unfair to ignore them or lump them together with the troubled Orientalism, which is incapable of fulfilling an objective scholarly role. Therefore, criticism directed at Orientalism does not mean generalization and negative judgments about all its achievements. This does not preclude studies that evaluate this effort or correct its shortcomings and occasional excesses. The merit of this research lies in its focus on critiquing Orientalism from another perspective, which has long lacked sufficient attention, as opposed to critiquing political and ideological Orientalism. What we mean here is critiquing the Orientalist approach to Arabic literature, but (from the perspective of the Orientalists themselves).
 The Orientalist Jaroslav's work is distinguished by its pioneering role in the field of literary criticism of Orientalism. This effort is characterized by precision and courage, along with defenses of the value of Arabic literature and its civilizational and creative role, particularly in his early research, "Arabism and Arabic Literature: Self-View of a Profession," published in 1968. In it, he did not limit himself to critiquing Orientalist approaches to Arabic literature; rather, he analyzed the value of this literature and revealed its characteristics, which have often suffered from exclusion or misunderstanding. In addition, he offered solutions to address these shortcomings, both at the level of methodologies and at the level of the tools that Westerners should possess. To understand this literature and successfully engage with it.
This research has been carefully explained, analyzed, and critiqued, drawing on what Jaroslav wrote in other studies and books, as well as what other Orientalists have contributed to this field or are close to it.
 
The study therefore aims to achieve two objectives: the first is to raise awareness of Western attitudes toward Arabic literature and to understand the trends that accompanied those attitudes. The second objective is to analyze the methodological flaws that have sometimes characterized these studies as deficient and sometimes excessive, from the perspective of the Orientalist Jaroslav

Abstract This study addresses the concept of literary imagination within cultural criticism, considering that cultural criticism constitutes a distinct intellectual discipline with an analytical methodology for studying culture from a socio-political perspective, extending beyond mere aesthetic concerns. The theoretical foundations of cultural criticism have represented a major turning point in the global critical landscape, shifting the focus toward deconstructing implicit cultural systems and revealing the intellectual and social structures concealed behind poetic discourse. From this perspective, a text is not read merely as a linguistic construct, but as a carrier of a cultural vision that expresses a system of values, power relations, and representations of the self and the other within its historical and social context. The poem “Kalimat” by serves as a rich model for applying cultural criticism, as it encompasses semantic dimensions that go beyond emotional lyricism to question the cultural structure of the relationship between men and women and to reshape the representation of the female in modern poetic discourse. Qabbani does not merely present a personal emotional experience; he reconfigures the concept of love as a cultural stance that intersects with issues of freedom, identity, the body, and symbolic power.The significance of this study lies in its aim to uncover the implicit cultural systems within the poem, particularly those related to masculinity and femininity, self-centeredness, and the use of language as a tool either to reproduce domination or to resist it.       This research seeks to approach “Kalimat” through a cultural-analytical lens, tracing its semantic and symbolic structures and revealing the cultural systems underlying its aesthetic expression. In doing so, it aims to shed light on the dialectical relationship between text and reality, and between poetry and culture. Ultimately, the study broadens the scope of reading poetry, portraying it as a cultural discourse that reflects the transformations of contemporary Arab society and reshapes its aesthetic and intellectual consciousness.