Family background and learning English in the United Arab Emirates

An investigation of the impact of beliefs and attitudes on learning English in the UAE was conducted against a background history of education in the UAE, which has been undergoing major transitions from tradition to modernity since the mid-1960s. The life-worlds of students and areas of learning were examined through socio-cultural theory, a Western sociological concept that was used as a guiding theoretical perspective. It had strong explanatory and interpretive power in accounting for much UAE study data, being a non-essentialist, all-encompassing model of social reproduction that produced a qualitative account of social reality. Three variables of analysis were identified: level of education (secondary school versus university), level of achievement (high achievers versus low achievers), and gender. Following a pilot study (10 students and 5 teachers), a questionnaire on beliefs and attitudes about language learning was administered to 234 students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 students, 12 parents, 14 teachers, 4 administrators, and one high-profile policy maker.

Autorentext

Khitam Y. Maslamani, Ph.D., University of Exeter, UK, 2007, MPhil, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1999. Teacher Trainer, Abu Dhabi Educational Zone, UAE Abu Dhabi Education Council, Licensed Teachers' Support Group. Interests: Educational Policy, TESOL, Curriculum Design and Development.