Arabizi (Arabic Chat language) - Research Paper Example

Arabizi or Arabish is also known as the chat language as many young Arabs use this language virtually on the platform of internet or mobile phones. This language was born in the late period of the twentieth century around 1990s. It was this time when the communication through text was on its peak in the Western zones and has ever since grown rapidly among the Arab youth; especially in Lebanon and Jordon. The rise of this language has gotten mixed reviews from people. Some have criticized the language and claimed that such a trend would lead to the disconnection between the Arab youth and its tradition while others have argued that this language just makes communication easier.

This research paper looks in to the aspect of how the usage of this language is affecting our society, exploring both the negative and the positive side while stating that the rise of this language has in fact bought the world closer and made communication easier. . both Amelia Naidoo’s article and Ibon Villelabeitia’s article, I concluded that mixing English language with Arabic language “Arabizi” and educating Arab students in English language have disadvantages such as destroying the native language, which in this case is Arabic’ (Ali.F.Ahmed).

Language is the most significant part of communication and its also and important part in defining your identity; and therfore the use of Arabizi is not only weaking the arabic of the Arab youth but also pulling them away from their true identity. Ahmed continues his article by stating ‘Amelia Naidoo referred to research studies at AUS, speaking English as a second language destroys the natural identity and sometimes the whole culture of an Arabian’ (Ali.F.Ahmed). Although being distant from Arabic may lead to the youth being detached from its heritage, Arabizi cannot be blamed for the loss of identity between young Arabs.

This point can be further strengthened by the views of Ali Naseer a frequent Arabizi user ‘For me, it is difficult to express myself in Arabic. I cannot write slang in Arabic because it is difficult, while in Arabizi I can. I do not see any evidence that Arabizi weakens my Arabic. The same could be said about weakening the English language but it is not true. I think people are oversensitive about this issue’ (Ghanem, 2011). Although Arabizi has been criticized for many reasons one of them being is pulling the youth away from its identity; that being its language.

People fail to recognize that use of Arabizi makes communication easier when using modern devices like World Wide Web or cellular phones. This language makes communication easier as it is impractical to switch keyboards to write Arabic in its original script, as most of the modern devices