8. English in the United Arab Emirates: Innocuous Lingua Franca or Insidious Cultural Trojan Horse?

Solloway, Anthony J.

doi:10.21832/9781783096602-011

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…The sampling for this study was cluster sampling which included cross-section of forty female students aged eighteen to twenty-four years studying English in the highest level of Academic Bridge Program at Zayed University and divided into three classes. Similar results were obtained by Solloway (2017Solloway ( , 2018. Kuwait University students expressed the same attitude towards the spread of English as a dominant language in a study conducted by Bouhmama and Bouhmama (2015) which was based on a convenience sample of 180 undergraduate students.…”

Section: Effect Of Emi On Achievement Arabic Language and Arab Cultural Identitysupporting

confidence: 78%

Perceptions and attitudes of Qatar University students regarding the utility of arabic and english in communication and education in Qatar

et al. 2021

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This study investigates the linguistic attitudes and perceptions of Qatar University students regarding the utility and vitality of the two languages that define the education and communication scenes in Qatar, namely, Arabic and English. It also reports on the predictors of these attitudes in terms of demographic traits. 861 students completed a questionnaire that was divided into: Media Language Preference (MLP); Value and Symbolism of Arabic (VSA); Arabic in Education and Society (AES); Medium of Instruction (MOI); Impact of Al-Jazeera Network (IJN); English in Scientific and Professional Communication (ESPC); Qatari Cultural Identity (QCI); Arabic Books (AB); English in Society and Work (ESW); Language in Workplace (LIW); Arabic in Employment (AE); Status of Arabic (SA); and Manifestations of Sociocultural Identity (MSI). Results showed that Arabic got higher ratings for MLP, VSA, AES, MOI, QCI, and MSI, while English was perceived as more useful than Arabic in ESPC. Correlational analysis showed that Gender had significant correlations with MLP, MOI, ESPC, and MSI, while Nationality, Specialization, and Number of spoken languages had correlations with MLP and MOI.

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Section: Effect Of Emi On Achievement Arabic Language and Arab Cultural Identitysupporting

confidence: 78%

Perceptions and attitudes of Qatar University students regarding the utility of arabic and english in communication and education in Qatar

et al. 2021

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“…As the expatriate population continues to explode and Qatari nationals become a smaller and smaller minority, a discourse of Arab Qatari identity under threat has increased—‘a situation aggravated further when English was the official language of instruction in education and a primary language of administration’ (Al‐Kuwari, , p. 86). What Solloway () calls the ‘Englishisation of the Arabian Peninsula’ vis‐à‐vis the ‘de‐Arabicisation of education’ reinforces common perceptions that English constitutes a threat to the customs and Islamic values of the Gulf countries. Furthermore, EMI has been examined as one of the ‘supposed universals’ that signify a ‘different type of crisis, a different loss—one that destabilizes autochthonous understandings of Arabian Gulf history, language and identity […] creating new and interesting re‐assemblages’ (Vora, , p. 33).…”

Section: Language Policy Reforms: Increasing Arabizationmentioning

confidence: 93%

English, super‐diversity, and identity in the State of Qatar

Hillman

Eibenschutz

2018

World Englishes

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This article provides a contemporary profile of English, or Englishes thereof, in the State of Qatar, a tiny country undergoing tremendous socio-cultural transformations. The historical background section contextualizes Qatar's contemporary linguistic 'super-diversity' as a continuity of mobility, integration, and exchange with various communities within and beyond the shores of the Arab/Persian Gulf for centuries. We describe Qatar's present-day sociolinguistic situation, English language policy initiatives and reforms in the educational context, and take a critical stance toward the common homogenizing view of English and Arabic language in the region, one that precludes a nuanced understanding in terms of wider cultural and linguistic processes taking place and shaping identities in Qatar today.

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“…In other countries in the region, there seems to be concern about the presence of a second language as the medium of instruction in education and the consequences for Arabic (e.g. Bell, 2015;Findlow, 2006;Lindsey, 2015;Raddawi & Meslem, 2015;Solloway, 2017). However, in Lebanon, there is much less concern, perhaps because of an unquestioned assumption that the country is multilingual (Bahous, Bacha & Nabhani, 2011;Marcus 2016).…”

Section: Schooling In Lebanonmentioning

confidence: 99%

There is no Alternative! Student Perceptions of Learning in a Second Language in Lebanon

Orr

Annous

2018

JLE

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Since 1997, children in Lebanese state schools are taught most of the curriculum in English or French. The children’s first language, Arabic, may be used even less in private schools, which educate 70% of children. In many countries, mother tongue education is seen as a right but in Lebanon it is taken for granted that children are taught in English or French. Written opinions were collected from seventy-five university students who were asked about the language in education policy. The results of a thematic analysis were discussed with a focus group of eight students. Findings point to a widespread acceptance of the policy, partly based on an underlying belief in the unsuitability of Arabic for the 21st century and a perception that the Lebanese are culturally predisposed to learn languages. Using the concept of linguistic imperialism, we discuss these results with reference to French colonialism and the global spread of English medium instruction. We also use a critical definition of ideology to discuss how a discourse in favour of the language in education policy, which actually favours the interests of the Lebanese elite, has been internalised by the students who see emigration as their only future.

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8. English in the United Arab Emirates: Innocuous Lingua Franca or Insidious Cultural Trojan Horse?

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Perceptions and attitudes of Qatar University students regarding the utility of arabic and english in communication and education in Qatar

Perceptions and attitudes of Qatar University students regarding the utility of arabic and english in communication and education in Qatar

English, super‐diversity, and identity in the State of Qatar

There is no Alternative! Student Perceptions of Learning in a Second Language in Lebanon

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