Sustainability and educational language policy in Arab higher education: findings from Q research

Abstract

This study examined whether institutions of higher education in the Arab world have adopted approaches that promote linguistic sustainability. Specifically, we used Q methodology to explore 30 graduates’ perceptions of whether the educational language policies in force during their tertiary education positively impacted their wellbeing after graduation. Based on their priorities, the graduates sorted 29 statements that articulated some of the social, cultural and economic impacts of their universities’ educational language policies. The results show that graduates took four distinct positions, which were given labels representing their general sentiments: We deserved better, We wanted more, It was enough but not everything and We cannot complain. This study concludes that three main linguistic areas were neglected in these graduates’ tertiary studies: language and identity, investment as a second language learning construct and parallellingualism. We maintain that higher education institutions could provide a more sustainable linguistic experience for Arab graduates by addressing these shortcomings, among others.