English Language Ecology in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Running Head: English Language Ecology in Saudi Arabia Language Ecology Your name Course name Instructor’s name Date of submission Introduction Language ecology is the study of the linkage between any given language and its environment. The environment in this matter means the people who use this language(Haugen, 2001). English language in Saudi Arabia can be traced from the nineteenth century British trade interests in this region. Because of the deep cultural and religious influence, the use of English has changed in this post colonial era. The defined British interest to the region was because of it’s position along India trade routes in 1932, Saudi Arabia gained independence and because of the presence of colonialist in the region, the attitude towards English turned positive (Pennycook 2004). In Saudi Arabia, Islam is the dominant. There is therefore a struggle of set boundaries and the religious concerns. The religious status has more authority on its boundaries than the ethno cultural status. In religious domain, its language is ritualized and more sanctified and traditional dominated (Fishman 2000). It is worth noting that, Arabic is the official language and the language that is used in religious activities. Religious books are in Arabic. Islam is the only legalized religion in. This means that most of the people here practice Islam as their religion and Arabic language as the only language used in religious rituals. However in embassies representing different countries different religions are allowed. This means that language restrictions are common in Saudi Arabia. The comparison of English in relations to other languages English in Saudi Arabia is spoken as a foreign language This means that it is an EFL country. Arabic is the official language and Urdu, Farsi, Pashto are also spoke in the country. However, due to petroleum product found in the country, there is diverse hiring of laborers from all over the world. For coordination in the workforce, English language is utilized as ligua francas. (Kraemer, 1990.). This means that English language have of late become a great consideration amongst the population. English language is a must learn subject in intermediate, secondary and tertially level. Arabic is the mostly used language and is used in all official duties and interpreted to other languages where needed especially in the embassies. English is solely used in the business sector only. This is due to the fact that labor hiring is done through the world and the neighboring countries. Most teaching is religious related and mostly done in Arabic. Neighboring countries like India and Pakistan also have their people in Saudi Arabia; this means that there is also the use their native languages in the country. In this context therefore English is only widely used in the business sector whether international or locally due to the fact that labor hiring from around the world is a common factor in the nation. . The learners and users of English in Saudi Arabia English is commonly used for intercultural communication between the non native speakers and therefore there are more people speaking English in Saudi Arabia (Ricento 2005). It is usually used to speak to non Arabic speakers. Due to the business nature of work in Saudi Arabia, business people learn and use English. Students undergo English training which the government has declared a composedly subject in all learning levels. In health care services and practitioners use English as their official language, this is because of the high chances of serving people who have little or no knowledge about the national/ official language Arabic. Commerce and international business parties use English for its one of the global recognized languages, this is because there are high chances of having different peoples peaking different languages n this sector. Hospitality industries in Saudi Arabia uses English too, this is because of the business nature of the country which hosts a lot of foreigners who are doing business or are investing in the country. The government institutions are also encouraging the use of English in their areas. This is because English has come to be the globally recognized language. For business among countries instigated by the government to take place, the involved officials have to be conversant with this language. Business’ especially the oil dominant industry is recognized globally. Many countries interested in the business need to go through the government to affect their business. This has resulted to the government looking for interpreters or even having people who can speak English to act as their ambassadors on these countries (Abd-el Wassie, 1970). In the embassies, there is diverse use of English as the medium of communication even though the national language is Arabic. For those people who are not conversant with the Arabic, there is the use of translated English in the services offered in this institutions. Moreover, during the visit to Mecca, many visitors are hosted in the country. Prayers are done using English and Arabic languages due to the fact that not all may be conversant with the Arabic language. English all over the world has been used as one of the qualifications to get a job. This is because it is the global language. In Saudi Arabia, many scholars are motivated to study this foreign language with an aim of working in international recognized organizations. Those who are ambitious to further their education outside the country work hard towards learning the language so that they can achieve their goals What are its domains? In Saudi Arabia religion makes all decisions regarding education. It is an Islamic state with Sunnah (way if his prophets) being its constitution which is Arabic. Islamic education is greatly emphasized throughout all levels of education system in the country and Quran, twajid tafsir and Tawheed are the subject that must be done in these systems being the main subject covering 30% of learning time covering these subjects. This is not only emphasized on religious education only bur also on other areas like teaching Islamic civilization and lives of the prophets and Arabic literature usually influenced by Islamic education (Prokop 2003). In this context English is suppressed as long as the subject taken is religion related or has religion dictations on how to go about it. The religious authorities use education curriculums to indoctrinate people, they have controlled regime on any material that is public including books that are not in accord with their education line. In the country many Islamic books are translated into other languages including English but very few books are translated into Arabic, the commonly used language in the country. Saudi Arabia is a country with high context culture; therefore the mode of communication depends on the other person communication cues like eye contact, body language rather than direct words(Bresnahan et al, 2002). These results to people neither making assumptions of what is nor really said. This means that English language is segregated in this area due to the fact that it is not the official language. Many people use Arabic which is the national language in this are. English classes are few and therefore students are not fully exposed to the language at large. What concurrent languages are used by its users? English was introduced in Saudi Arabian schools far back in 1925 ( Al-Ahaydib 1986) the main aim for this introduction was to equip students with another foreign language that will enable them to acquire useful inventions, knowledge, get knowledge from other societies and help spread Islam throughout the world. Classes took trough by monolingual or who is encouraged to behave like one is a common scenario in Saudi Arabia. In English classes, teachers can use mother tongue in EFL classrooms to help the student through the teaching process. In this context therefore students are taught English using Arabic. In Saudi Arabia every day life is governed by more than one language. Arabic is the mostly used languages with English only used for commercial purposes. I.e. it is used as a business language. English is usually used when addressing or communicating across the boarder. This is mostly done to immigrant workers in the society however; it is not extensively mandated because some of this immigrant speaks their own variety of English .I.e. affected by their origin(Zahn & Hopper, 1985). In Saudi Arabia, Arabic language is found as a sign of religious unity with the other Arab countries. This however is not affected by the dominance of English media in the recent past. This is because English is not seen as a threat to the prominence of Arabic in the region. Since the law is founded in Qur’an, the language used in making national policies is Arabic. This is influenced by the religion belief in the area, which dictates the language to be used in religious related articles. What internal varieties does English show with the chosen context? English use is of very many benefits in Saudi Arabia. Although religion seems to be undermining the use of English in many ways like limiting the way it is taught, it benefits its citizens in diverse ways. Business in the area is always high, and this calls for hiring workers from the neighboring country and allover the world. English is used as the only medium of communication in this area when communicating with workers. Also when doing business, not all people are conversant with Arabic; therefore, those with the ability to speak in English have a great advantage because they can transact their business with ease and with no language barrier. Many people result to using sing languages and face contacts when communicating to people who are not conversant with Arabic language. This result to misconception of what was not said and it can result to misunderstanding between people. There has been the introduction of media services that use English like the satellite TV Al Jazeera and BBC, they all use English and therefore influence the use of English in Saudi Arabia. English however has its pit fall in this region, the growth of both English and Arabic websites has been observed in the recent past. However there has brought about certain disadvantages in the whole gulf region. Most of these sites are associated with Islamic and terror groups like the al-Qaeda which when used, they have proficient English. This has resulted to English being referred to as a non ideological language, which has effects on the political and social areas in the country. Arabic directs differ from the region on grew up in but only one version of dialects is taught and used across the country., colloquial dialects differ from the way they pronounce some words, lexical items and structures. Arab language has three consonants which affect the written and the spoken English in Saudi Arabia. English is Saudi Arabia therefore has a lot of mother tongue influence and people find it hard to learn English due to its structure. What is the nature of its written traditions in this context? In Saudi Arabia, language is much culturalized. English is widely used mostly in the business sector although Arabic is the official language. Other languages like Urdu are also used by some people in the area. The first thing to note is that, an official calendar in Saudi Arabia is in Arabic. Government officials use Arabic and incase you are not conversant with it, assistance is offered to you mostly translation assistance in the embassy. English announce announcements can only be traced from the only two English newspaper compared with fifteen Arabic ones and one Urdu news paper. The government controls what is announced and therefore anything from corruption, religious affairs and women rights are not allowed in the news papers. Official notices are mostly found in Arabic since it is the official language. English language being a commercial related language can only get adverts form various business doing their work in Saudi Arabia. In the case of speech, due to mother tongue influence the English they speak differ from the recognized English versions; America English and Britain English. Word initial voiceless stop produce shorter VOT values the normal English stop (Lisker & Abramson 1967). The official use of Arabic language has a detrimental effect on English speakers in the way they pronounce words and also the way they spell these words. When involving the syllable value of consonant clusters in English the Arabic language is responsible of the syllable structure error when learning English. this tends to affect even the pronunciation of some English words. To what extent has its written form been standardized in this context Religion is the main topic studied in most schools. This is wholly supported by the Islam religion authority in the area. Many books related to this religion are translated to ease religion teaching in this country. However rarely will you get an English book being translated into Arabic. This only happens if it complies with the set standards of the official language. Written English language in Saudi Arabia is totally standardized, this is because the word order influence. Arabic prefers verb before subject (VSO) while subject before verb (SVO) is used in spoke Arabic in many cases writers transfer the Arabic word thus standardizing the written English language. Second language learners depend on their mother tongue to affect their process ( Noor 1991). What kind of institutional support has English won in this context? Being a religious state, religion determines what the curriculum entails in all school levels. However, there have been changes and English has been receiving support from the authorities in that they made English a compulsory subject is school. This means that having that education is a must learn in the region, and then all people will be taught English in Saudi Arabia. Religion also gives its support to English language. Prayers help in Mecca are allowed to be made in both Arabic and English languages. This has resulted to many people in Saudi Arabia learning English withy no restrictions as far as their prayers and religion is concerned. The government also supports businesses and in the course they support English as a language because it is the majorly used language in the business sector. Schools encourage the use of English language(Giles & Billings, 2004.). This is because it is a must learn subject in all institutions and them teaching it to the students allows it to expand in the region. However, there are restrictions of the use of this language in that, organizations and officials use Arabic as the official language. Therefore English use is not high in this region especially in offices and government institutions. By the government allowing religious practices in embassies, English has been favored in a way. This is because; for those who are not Muslims and are or they are and are not conversant with Arabic they can perform their rituals using English language or any other language. However, since embassies consists of different people from differing countries, there has been formation of groups amongst the worker which help exercise their religion although not publicly and they use English. In this case there are many Saudi Arabians who learn English on the course; by interacting with embassy workers. What are the attitudes of its users towards English in terms of intimacy and status? The number of people speaking English as their first language has been decreasing with time in the whole world. It is mainly spoken as the second language in the multilingual context and spoken among non native speakers. Although then government has invested heavily in English language teaching there ahs been failure to take English language to levels it disserves in this region. One is to put into practice the way English language is communicated and taught, lack of student’s motivations and the fact that the purposes of studying this language are limited (Brennan & Brennan,1981.). The most important factor of learning a new language is the role of the learner (Vygotsky, 1978). The success of suing English language as a second language is Saudi Arabia depends with the language proffency of the learner, attitude and the background. Exposure to English inside and outside the class room affects the English proffency of its users in Saudi Arabia. English in schools is taught using mother tongue so that students can grasp the true meaning of what is taught. This creates positive attitude towards English however, the gulf war changed the attitude towards English amongst many youth. Many youth viewed the skirmish as a second colonization from America and Britain, this changed what was perceived as a good initiative of English in the country. America and Britain has been fighting for revision of the English curriculum in the country, calling for a change in the books they use to teach. So when there were crushes between the gulf and the west, the attitude changed and English lost learning morale in the country. What is its status in a typology? The use of English in Saudi Arabia and the gulf nations is used as a world Lingua franca. This is mostly influenced by communication, media, air transport and sea transport. Saudi Arabia ahs very few native speaking people amongst the population. However, it is the key medium of communication to the first Britons and USA. Since the Second World War, English has continued to expand in Saudi Arabia by both native speakers and settlers and non native speakers(Barker & Giles, 2002). There has tremendous improvement in changes in language use in Saudi Arabia despite its strict religious beliefs. This has been encouraged by the government encouraging the learning of English as a second language and communities motivations towards taking their children to schools and learn English English in Saudi Arabia is mostly influenced by the religious authorities. They determine what is going to be taught in schools thus regulating what ought to be taught. This reduced and destroys the attitude of students and teachers in the schools towards English as a language. English being used only in the business regimes only and not in any official duty in Saudi Arabia hampers its developments and expansions, however, the government has shown efforts in encouraging all schools to teach English in all levels of school systems. The use of English in the region is a clear indication that it has no threat to the existing languages and the dominance religious culture. however due to the changes in world wide linguistic exchange, mostly via the internet English is rightfully position in the language ecology of Saudi Arabia. There has been diverse suggestion that English language in this region be tailored so as it can communicate only issues regarding the Islam values but the presence of foreigners and differing cultures, this cannot be effective whatsoever. English is encouraged in all learning institutions where by English is a compulsory subject. However mother tongue influence affects its proficiency. Being an effect of methods used to learn this language. When learning the language, referrals are made from the mother tongue which result to pronunciation errors and also when writing (Macaro, 2001). The aim of English studies in Saudi Arabia is to enhance people service to others and expansion of Islamic religion allover the globe (Prokop, 2003). The introduction of international schools in Saudi Arabia has resulted to diverse culture integration which in the long run affects English language in the country. This is because, with the inclusion of international students the only option as far as language is concerned is English. Student and people of Saudi Arabia end up being exposed to the language and hence it is the most spoken foreign language in Saudi Arabia. References Macaro, E. (2001). Analyzing student teachers’codeswitching in foreign language Classrooms: Theories and decision making. Modern Language Journal, 85, p. 531–548. Vygotsky, L. S., (1978) Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Barker, V., Giles, H., (2002) Who supports the English-only movement? 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