The use of English as a medium of instruction in the United Arab Emirates has generated debate about the place of English in an otherwise Arabic-speaking region. This ethnographic study, conducted during the 2010-2017 era of the Abu Dhabi Educational Council with a policy of biliteracy in government schools, investigates the accounts of sixteen Emirati students from an English-medium teacher-training college to learn when and where they favoured Arabic and English. This presentation highlights findings shows fluid conversational practices which challenge assumptions that English use threatens Arabic, Islam, and the cultural identity in this Gulf context.
The use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in the United Arab Emirates has generated debate about the place of English in an otherwise Arabic-speaking region. Deep-seated worries that English use threatens Arabic, Islam, and the cultural identity of Emiratis warrants empirical studies about language practices of English users in this context. This ethnographic study, conducted during the 2010-2017 era of the Abu Dhabi Educational Council with a policy of biliteracy in government schools, investigates the accounts of sixteen (16) Emirati students from an English-medium teacher-training college to learn when and where they favoured Arabic and English. Drawing on social constructionism and a thematic approach to data analysis, this study examines reported linguistic repertoires in and around the college, showing twelve conversational patterns based on Arabic and English. The study challenges assumptions that EMI settings favour English only, and that there is one way of using English for learning. The presentation concludes that understandings of appropriate linguistic practices in Abu Dhabi should be approached from a multilingual mindset, where rich experiences of Arabic diglossia, keen attention to the linguistic profiles of interactants, and preferences for intelligibility over accuracy shape linguistic repertoires.
