Family background and learning English in the United Arab Emirates

An investigation of the impact of beliefs and attitudes on learning English in the UAE was conducted against a background history of education in the UAE which has been undergoing major transitions from tradition to modernity since the mid-1960s. The life-worlds of students and areas of learning were examined through socio-cultural theory a Western sociological concept that was used as a guiding theoretical perspective. It had strong explanatory and interpretive power in accounting for much UAE study data being a non-essentialist all-encompassing model of social reproduction that produced a qualitative account of social reality. Three variables of analysis were identified: level of education (secondary school versus university) level of achievement (high achievers versus low achievers) and gender. Following a pilot study (10 students and 5 teachers) a questionnaire on beliefs and attitudes about language learning was administered to 234 students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 students 12 parents 14 teachers 4 administrators and one high-profile policy maker.