Multilingualism and the role of English in the United Arab Emirates

• Published in: World Englishes Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 191 - 204
• Main Authors: Siemund, Peter, Al‐Issa, Ahmad, Leimgruber, Jakob R. E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Arabic language; College students; Economic development; English as an international language; English language; Foreign labor; Language varieties; Linguistic landscape; Multilingualism; Public sphere; Sociolinguistics; United Arab Emirates
• ISSN: 0883-2919; 1467-971X
• DOI: 10.1111/weng.12507

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has witnessed an unprecedented economic and cultural development since its foundation in 1971. Foreign labor and investment play a central role in this development, yielding a sharp imbalance between the Emirati and the foreign population. A population of no less than 85 per cent of highly transient foreigners strongly impacts the local linguistic landscape, with many languages competing in the public sphere. English occupies a special role in this multilingual texture, as it is used as a foreign language, a second language, and a lingua franca. It occurs in its standardized varieties, but also in several non‐standard forms, as foreign labor is recruited from places formerly under British or American influence. Based on a new questionnaire study of 692 university students, we explore the tension between English and Arabic, the prominence of English, the increasing use of English as a home language, and the emergence of a new variety of English: ‘Gulf English’.