Abstract
The United Arab Emirates’ complex history, its current demographics, its youthfulness as a country, and the fact that it is a region undergoing fast-paced change make the issue of cultura identity particularly relevant and urgent in this part of the world. This is especially true given the rapid spread of English in the sphere of education and everyday life in recent years. This paper discusses the above issues before analyzing the attitudes and perceptions of female Emirati undergraduate students and female Emirati primary school teachers with regard to global English and its effects on local culture and identity. After analysis of the findings from a qualitative study using open-response questionnaires with 35 undergraduates and twelve teachers, a discussion follows with recommendations on how to overcome issues raised in the study.
Citation
Hopkyns, S. (2014), "The effects of global English on culture and identity in the UAE: a double-edged sword", Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 5-24. https://doi.org/10.18538/lthe.v11.n2.197
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Sarah Hopkyns
License
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
Acknowledgements
Publisher's note: The Publisher would like to inform the reader that the article “The effects of global English on culture and identity in the UAE: a double-edged sword” has changed pagination. Previous pagination was pp. 1-20. The updated pagination for the article is now pp. 5-24. The Publisher apologises for any inconvenience caused.