Linguistic Globalization and the Arab World. Durability of Change?
The study aims to answer the question about the durability of linguistic globalization and its consequences in the Arab world. The issue is discussed in the context of the spread of Global English in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. The analysis shows that English has become the most important form of linguistic capital at the expense of Standard Arabic. We claim that the process will proceed due to strong class stratification in the Arab world, where English – being an attribute of the upper and middle-upper class – is used to perpetuate social inequalities, and the linguistic dichotomy between Standard Arabic and vernaculars.
Keywords: linguistic globalization, English, Arabic, Egypt, United Arab Emirates
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