Dr.Charleine Saad Elias

PhD in Language Sciences and Translation

Welcome to Beyond the Words

Hello dear reader,

My name is Charleine Saad Elias. I’m a communication lecturer and consultant, as well as a discourse analyst and researcher who aims at raising awareness on manipulative tools in communication.

I hold a PhD in Language Sciences and Translation from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. Part of my thesis was an application of critical discourse analysis on the study of Arabic news reports covering the discourse of former American President Obama about Islam and the Arab world. I analyzed persuasive textual features to show how ideology is reflected in words and how politicians use persuasive techniques to shape our opinion and make us believe what they want us to believe.

Over the past 7 years, I’ve participated in a number of conferences, signed up for Cognitive Psychology courses and deepened my knowledge in Cognitive Linguistics and Discourse Analysis. Because I believe that, as an academic, I have a duty towards my society and that is to share my knowledge with all, I started an initiative under the name of Agora for Public Speaking through which I’ve provided workshops and training sessions on the importance of verbal and nonverbal communication tools in the success of the communication process.

I’ve become more curious about manipulative techniques in communication after closely observing how media and politics are shaping the public opinion. This is how the idea of Beyond the Words was born. I launched this blog as an educational tool for all the ones who are interested in reading between the lines and becoming more aware of their surroundings. If you’re ready to see things as they are, then Beyond the Words will take you that far.