Intimidation has a profound effect on Arabic speakers in the UK, drawing a clear boundary on where it is unacceptable to use foreign languages in public. It was found that a significant number of individuals who had been intimidated for speaking Arabic in public felt uncomfortable speaking Arabic in ‘transit spaces’ (e.g. airport, train stations). This has potential implications for the maintenance of migrant languages in the UK.
This project investigates the patterns in the public language use of first-language Arabic speakers in the UK, as well as the suspected intimidation and linguistic impoliteness experienced by this group and how it affects their language attitudes towards Arabic and their use of Arabic in public. Through the use of online questionnaires and personal interviews, this study explored where participants choose to use Arabic and English, their levels of comfort speaking Arabic in various public spaces and any intimidation they have experienced for speaking Arabic in public. The study observed that participants feel particularly uncomfortable speaking Arabic in 'transit spaces' such as on public transport and in public transport hubs (e.g. airports, train stations) and that participants will often switch from Arabic to English in public spaces to avoid unwanted attention. Intimidation is found to have a profound effect on participants' public use of Arabic but, surprisingly, had very little effect on language attitudes towards Arabic. These findings have implications for minority languages, such as Arabic in the UK, and questions the effects of linguistic impoliteness on language anxiety, and subsequently, ethnolinguistic vitality and language maintenance/shift.
