Suchergebnisse

Over the past two decades, the Arabian oil-rich Gulf countries have faced enormous social, political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological and epistemological upheaval. Through detailed, critical comparative investigation, Neoliberalism and English Language Education Policies in the Arabian Gulf examines the impact of such disruption on education policies in a political and economic union, consisting of six countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Using data collected from a wide range of sources, this thought-provoking book documents the inner workings of neoliberalism across a strategic geographical area of the Islamic world. The book teases apart the complex issues surrounding the ways in which access to English has been envisioned, contested, and protected from being challenged among different players within and between the Gulf countries. Osman Z. Barnawi explores the intensifying ideological debates between Islamic culture and Western neoliberal values, and questions whether Islamic values and traditions have been successfully harmonised with neoliberal capitalist development strategies for nation building in the Arabian Gulf region. Neoliberalism and English Language Education Policies in the Arabian Gulf will be of interest to academics, researchers and postgraduates working in the fields of language education and, more specifically, TESOL, applied linguistics, education policy, and teacher education.

Abstract
In this study I examine the interplay of Islam, Arabic and intra-Asian student mobility. Specifically, through
semi-structured interviews with three Indonesian male students who are pursuing their Arabic medium of instruction (AMI) degrees
in Islamic Sharia at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, I investigate two central questions: (1) What are the
driving forces behind Indonesian Muslim students' mobility to Saudi Arabia for pursuing their degrees in AMI? (2) How do
Indonesian Muslim students perceive Arabic in general and AMI programs in particular? The findings reveal that the participants'
desire to move and pursue their AMI degrees in Saudi Arabia were charged with different expectations, objectives and agendas. At
the heart of these differences lies what I term as the sacralization of language phenomenon among the
participants. This very phenomenon refers to the ways in which Arabic (including its practice) is construed by the participants as
beneficial in this world and the Hereafter; as a linguistic vehicle for sustaining Islamic identity; and as a tool through which
they show their true engagement with and commitment to Islam and Islamic life. I conclude the paper with a call for serious
scholarly engagement with the sacralization of language phenomenon in the emerging scholarship of intra-Asian
student mobility within the Asian region.

Introduction: Why this book matters? -- Part 1. Historical and theoretical foundations -- Part 2. English language assessment and issues of power, identity, and knowledge in a transnational context -- Part 3. Transnational assessment in English writing skills -- Part 4. Assessment in English medium instruction programs in a transnational context.

"This edited volume examines how transnational English language assessment practices are envisioned, enacted and justified by different stakeholders including students, teachers and universities in different geographical contexts, and what would be the multi-level consequences of such practices. Bringing together diverse perspectives from across the Global South and Global North, the book argues that the field of English language assessment has always been transnational, despite an absence of a research that explicitly examines English language assessment practices in relation to transnationalism. The contribution of this volume lies in filling in this critical scholarly gap. Through a wide set of epistemological, theoretical and pedagogical interventions along with methodological orientations and analytical frameworks, the chapter authors question the social, economic, political, linguistic, and pedagogical consequences of transnational English language assessment practices in HE settings and contexts. Offering fresh perspectives on English language assessment practices in relation to transnationalism, this book will be of great interest to researchers, academics and post-graduate students in the fields of applied linguistics, TESOL, and language assessment more broadly"--