Second Language Learning and the Clash of Civilizations

Abstract

This researchinvestigates the relationship amongsecond language learning, identity, culture, and motivation in Saudi Arabia (SA). SA's education system concentrates on teaching, while identity and social aspects have only been given little attention. The researcher seeks to redress this balance by exploring the impact of pupils' negative views toward the linguistic communities and of themselves as Muslim pupils. It aims to investigate how negative views toward the English language speaking communities could affect or demotivate Arab Muslim female learners to learn the language. The researcher supports the arguments using a qualitative approach and data drawn from pupils' focus group interviews and one-to-one teachers' interviews. The current study involves 132 second-year pupils from a secondary public school in Taif city, in SA and three Saudi English language teachers.The findings indicate the impact of various social factors relevant to the Saudi identity and culture on pupils' English as a second language (ESL) learning in the Saudi context. Participants' beliefs and practices of ESL appear to be influenced by certain negative views towardthe English-speaking communities.Finally, the study recommends extending the setting of the sample for future study to include more than one city in order to compare cultural and social attributes that impact ESL, ascultures and identities vary from one area to another in SA. 340 Background English has been the only foreign language taught in Saudi Arabia's (SA) public schools for more than 50 years, starting from year seven to year eleven in secondary school (Al-Mutawa&Kailani, 1989); recently, it has been taught during year six, and from an age as early as kindergarten in most private schools. Furthermore, English is the language of instruction in all science university courses. As a result of SA's leading economic role at the international level, the Saudi Arabian government has realized the great demand to learn English as a means of communication with the outside world. In addition, beside Arabic, English is the only language used in hospitals, shops, and other public places; therefore, English could be regarded as a second language in SA. However, learning English in the Saudi context might clash with the mother tongue and the local cultures. This clash could result from certain social images created toward the target language culture and speakers, which as a result could affect or even demotivate language learners and discourage them to use English. The proposed study intends to enrich the research of English learning and teaching in SA and fill this gap between cultural differences by interviewing a number of pupils and teachers in order to explore howdemotivating factors can affect pupils' learning process. It also investigates teachers' and learners' attitudes toward English and explores what could discourage pupils from learning English.