5. Name: Yousef Ibrahim Al-Rojaie Title: A Discourse Analysis of Interruption, Moderator Role, and Address Terms in Arab and American Panel News Interviews (A Comparative Study of Al Jazeera’s ‘Opposite Direction’ and the PBS ‘NewsHour’) Institution: Oklahoma State University Country United States Date: 2003 Language: English Abstract: This study examines the similarities and differences between Arabic and English speakers in their language use in television talk shows. Using discourse analysis, this study employed a descriptive, comparative, and analytical examination of three specific features: interruption, the moderator’s role, and address term usage. The two programs selected for analysis were Al Jazeera’s ‘Al-Ittijah Al-Muakis’ (the Opposite Direction) and the PBS ‘NewsHour’. In examining the moderator’s role, the analysis was limited to three tasks: encouraging disagreement, challenging the guests, and managing disagreements. In analyzing the use of interruption and address terms, the study focused on the frequency and function of use. The findings identified a number of common and different uses of these features. In using interruption, Arabic-speakers were found to employ interruption more than double the percentage of use compared to the English ones. For the moderator’s role, the Arab and American moderators carried out the task of encouraging disagreement similarly. The Arab moderator challenges the guests in a direct and confrontational way through a variety of means. However, the American moderator’s challenges were less frequent and more indirect using mitigated strategies.
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