English in the Arab Gulf

Abstract

Rapid changes are happening at all levels in the modern Arab Gulf societies. One of the fields where these changes matter most is education. Governments are trying to restructure their educational policies to respond to technological, economic and social changes without disrupting or clashing with firmly held beliefs, ideas and traditions. But the dramatic changes in these countries are bound to be accompanied by many challenges. In the field of education, one of the important issues posing a challenge is mandating the use of English as the medium of instruction in many academic institutions. This paper looks at the spread of English in these areas, its current position and the accompanying challenges.

Keywords

• English
• education
• change
• tradition