MonaÌýAttwa

  • Associate Teaching Professor of Arabic
  • Arabic Language Coordinator
Address

Ìý311

Office Hours

Mondays 12-2 pm, and by appointment

The social life of languages, particularly Arabic, is a central focus of my work. I am interested in how language functions as a means of communication and in developing effective approaches to teaching Arabic as a foreign language.

Before joining CU Boulder in 2015, I taught Arabic language and translation at the American University in Cairo, Leiden University in the Netherlands, and the International Language Institute (IH-Cairo). In addition to teaching, I have professional experience in translation, machine translation, and publishing.

I completed my PhD at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, where I examined the effects of globalization and superdiversity on Arabic cross-country communication. My research analyzed the linguistic and semiotic resources used on a pan-Arab TV show and considered how these practices relate to identity in Arabic-speaking communities.

Publications:Ìý

  • Attwa, M. & De Ruiter, J. (2025). Why can’t you see my funny side? Standard Arabic as resource in humor. Journal of Arabic Sociolinguistics. 3(1), 90-112. Edinburgh University Press.
  • Attwa, M. (2024). Layers of identity: understanding the Arab voice. I-LanD Journal. Identities and diversity in audiovisual products. 1(2), 56-80. Paolo Loffredo Editore
  • De Ruiter, J. & Attwa, M. (2021). Allah, Allah, Allah: The Role of God in the Arab Version of the Voice. Religions 12:412.
  • Attwa, M. (2020). Arabizi: a writing variety worth learning? A revisit. Taha, Z. (eds.) Revisiting Levels of Contemporary Arabic in Egypt. Essays on Arabic Varieties in Memory of El-Said Badawi. AUC Press. Cairo.
  • Attwa, M. (2019). On the way to understand the pan-Arab voice. Miller C. et al (eds.). Studies on Arabic Dialectology and Sociolinguistics: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of AIDA held in Marseille from 30th May – 2nd June 2017. Aix-en-Provence: Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans. Collection: Livres de l’IREMAM.

Research Interests:

Sociolinguistics, language choice, e-Arabic, identity and ideology, and language pedagogy.