Language Teaching for Specific Purposes: A Case Study of the Degree of Accuracy in Describing the Character of Mental Disabilities in Modern Arabic Drama (Egyptian Film Toot-Toot as an Example)

The study aims at investigating the degree of accuracy in describing the character of mental disabilities in modern Arabic drama. The study takes the Egyptian Film Toot-Toot as an example. Toot -Toot is a film about a mentally handicapped heroine, “Kareema”, who was sexually abused by a wealthy man, and she was also socially harassed by the people of her community. The study tries to prove that there is an accurate stereotypical representation of the mentally up-normal characters in Arabic n drama and cinema. To achieve the objectives of the study, the descriptive analytical approach was adopted. The sincerity and consistency of the study tool were confirmed the study summarized the film into eight scenes, then they were analyzed and discussed in light of the degree of accuracy of the general characteristics of mental disabilities which include the following: cognitive, physical, linguistic, the social and psychological characteristics. Also, the role of social institutions towards the mentally disabled is discussed. The results revealed that the purpose is to make the audience to be sympathized rather than empathized by the dramatic representation of the disabled character for the sake of increasing the cash revenue of the film. To sum up, the mentally- handicapped characters were misrepresented; they were so far from the scientific and medical diagnosis.