Translingual practice is the norm in plurilingual contexts such as the United Arab Emirates. However, this is not reflected in educational policy. This presentation explores 100 Emirati university students’ language use, ideologies, and perspectives on English medium instruction. Ways to combat dominant ‘double monolingual’ ideologies in the region are suggested.
Translingual practice is recognized as ordinary in many plurilingual contexts around the world. However, such a reality is not often reflected in language planning and policy, including English as a medium of instruction (EMI) contexts where languages often exist side-by-side or are separated according to domain. In the United Arab Emirates, where EMI dominates all levels of education, the gulf between translingual practice and monolingual educational policy is especially important to address. In public and scholarly discourse, the ubiquitous presence of English in the region coupled with strict ‘English only’ classroom policies in EMI universities has been linked to the attrition of Arabic as well as fragility in local cultural identities. This talk explores such issues before sharing the findings from a mixed-method case study involving 100 Emirati university students. The study investigated participants’ language use, ideologies, and perspectives on EMI. It was found that although translingual practices were common in classroom contexts (mixing of languages to aid communication), attitudes towards such practices were mixed. Many participants expressed ‘double monolingual’ ideologies whereby both English and Arabic were viewed as important but only if spoken separately and not mixed at a sentence level. From a ‘World Englishes’ perspective, where all forms of English are deemed worthy of respect and development, the way in which Emiratis use their multilingual resources to effectively aid communication is not only natural but part of their identities as multilingual speakers. It is argued that grassroots linguistic hybridity could be viewed as a counter-discourse to rigid ‘English only’ expectations in English medium universities and policies advocating ‘pure and separate’ language use. It is suggested that embracing a plurilingual turn would reduce Arabic attrition and empower learners to embrace complexities in identities.
