Arabic language maintenance amongst sojourning families in Australia

Abstract

Families that live temporarily abroad for work or education (amongst other reasons) often encounter some difficulties to maintain their children’s L1; particularly when they live in English-speaking countries. This study explores the language maintenance experiences of ten Saudi Arabian families sojourning in Australia, from the perspective of both family language policy and language and religion research. The article looks at this growing group of sojourners, for whom the link between Arabic language maintenance and religion poses particular challenges and opportunities. Parents reported a strong intention to maintain Arabic while in Australia, which they saw as particularly important for easier reintegration into Saudi schools when they return home. They worked hard to preserve their children’s oral fluency but found it more challenging to maintain age-appropriate literacy skills. Arabic maintenance was also seen as crucial for religious practice, and faith-based concerns appeared to be the major motivating factor for parents in enrolling their children in Arabic education programmes. When taken together, the findings demonstrate how religious concerns permeate language maintenance practices for these families, and the similarities and differences in their experiences to those described previously in the literature on Japanese (and some Korean) sojourners.