Higher education and linguistic dualism in the Arab Gulf

Finally read this paper which is very relevant to the data I'm analyzing. Findlow finds evidence in student and faculty responses of a new UAE identity which draws on local tradition and on global innovation, to some extent on Arab identity and marginally on (cultural) Islamic identity. It's interesting how she sees UAEU as oriented to the Arab-Islamic world, HCT to the West/globalization, and ZU as oriented to the UAE, within a global perspective.

The paper also made me think about the domains in which linguistic dualism is seen - e.g. in different conceptions/worldviews (look out for these terms, as they link to 'discourses') of prestige ('a good position in society' or 'getting to the top'). The 'personal' aspect of Arabic is also analyzed a bit, in terms of reference to "my dreams" and "my country".

Findlow, S. (2006). Higher Education and Linguistic Dualism in the Arab Gulf. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(1): 19-36.

Parents' role

Well, this is an old study but relevant to social context for language learning:
Gardner, R.C. (1968). Attitudes and Motivation: Their Role in Second-Language Acquisition. TESOL Quarterly 2(3): 141-150.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3585571

Parents have an active role: "monitors the child's language learning performance, and to the extent that he plays this role he attempts to promote success. That is, the parent watches over the child and makes sure he does his homework, encourages him to do well, and in general reinforces his successes" (141).

They also have a "passive" role: "attitudes of the parent towards the community whose language the child is learning". These attitudes are important, I believe, because they influence the child's attitudes" (141).

These roles can clash and the passive one undermine the active one. Of course the same applies to other significant others.