Language Use, Attitudes, and Identities of Bilingual Arab Children in Manchester, UK: Description and Factors

Alraddadi, H. M. (2021) Language Use, Attitudes, and Identities of Bilingual Arab Children in Manchester, UK: Description and Factors. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

This sociolinguistic study contributes to the debate around language use, attitudes and identity within ethnic minorities in the UK. It also contributes to discussions of heritage language maintenance and family language policies. More importantly, it furthers our understanding of language use in supplementary schools, a field that has not received enough attention from researchers. In this thesis, I investigate bilingual Arab children’s language use, attitudes and identities. First, I explore their language use patterns and linguistic practices in two environments: at home and at the supplementary Arabic school. I then examine their attitudes towards Arabic in its two varieties ‘Standard Arabic (SA) and Colloquial Arabic (QA)’, their attitudes towards Arabic supplementary schools, and their attitudes towards maintaining Arabic. Third, I explore the children’s identities in relation to the Arabic school, the English school, at home and in general term as identity is approach as something dynamic and changeable in this study. The factors that affect these language practices, attitudes and sense of identity, and the relationships between them are examined in detail. The aim of this study was to find patterns that lead to the maintenance of Arabic and/ or language shift. Arab children, parents and teachers in Arabic supplementary schools in Manchester, UK were invited to participate. Using a combination of questionnaires, interviews, observation and field notes, this project provides a picture of language repertoires, preferences and practices in the Arabic community in Manchester. The findings show that Arabic is indeed maintained and that there is a great effort to maintain it. The main motivation for Arabic maintenance is its value as the language of the Quran. However, the results also show that the children’s language use with older generations differs from children’s language use with younger generations, which suggests that there is a shift towards English-dominant bilingualism amongst the younger generation. The key finding is that the most influential factor on the children’s general language use is the language spoken to them. Furthermore, it sheds light on the importance of setting language policies that increase the use of Arabic both at home and in Arabic schools. In addition, the findings of this study show that attending supplementary schools, watching Arabic programmes, reading Arabic books, and socializing with Arabs could motivate children to speak and maintain Arabic. Regarding attitudes, children generally hold positive attitudes towards Arabic, maintaining Arabic and Arabic supplementary schools. These attitudes are positively related to the children’s language use, enjoyment in learning Arabic, and their sense of identity. In terms of identity, the children showed changeable sense of identity which appears far from fixed as they positioned themselves within different social groups in different social contexts. identifying the children themselves as ‘Arab Muslim’ was associated with a higher use of Arabic.