Abstract
This paper reports a sub-set of results from a mixed-method ethnographic study of literacy among female graduates and undergraduates of a United Arab Emirates public university. With reference to survey data and two in-depth interviews, the paper focuses in particular on the predispositions and preferences of these women with regard to reading and writing in English and Modern Standard Arabic. Employing a New Literacy Studies theoretical framework along with a number of concepts developed by Bourdieu, the paper finds that literacy practices in this context are developing rapidly, influenced by the diverse transnational linguistic marketplaces in which these women grow up. Suggestions are made with regard to possible directions for curricular development in higher education in this region based on the opinions expressed by these young women.
Citation
O’Neill, G.T. (2014), "“Just a natural move towards English”: Gulf youth attitudes towards Arabic and English literacy", Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 22-42. https://doi.org/10.18538/lthe.v11.n1.160
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Gary T. O’Neill
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 ““Just a natural move towards English”: Gulf youth attitudes towards Arabic and English literacy” has changed pagination. Previous pagination was pp. 1-21. The updated pagination for the article is now pp. 22-42. The Publisher apologises for any inconvenience caused.