Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T17:01:54.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The local flavour of English in the Gulf

In a matter of fifty years, English has attained its own distinctive features in the Gulf

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2011

Blair Fussell
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

No matter where you are in the world, English seems to have its own way of cropping up, and the Gulf is no exception. Drive through the Omani–Emirati border crossing at Mazyad and a sign on the Emirati side announces, ‘Helping support AIDS’. Turn on KTV2, a state-run television channel broadcast out of Kuwait, and an English subtitle reads, ‘May God give you long life’; scan the headlines of the Gulf News and read, ‘Emiratisation is vital for the country’; eavesdrop on an expatriate Indian family ordering lunch in the food court at the Muscat City Centre mall and hear, ‘Give me the biriyani chicken’, ‘Give me the thali set’; follow a Bahraini Twitter tweeter and read, ‘say the truth don't fabricate BHR’.

Type
Original Article
Information
English Today , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 26 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmed, K. 2010. ‘English in the Arab Gulf.’ Asian Journal of University Education, 6(1), 1–12.Google Scholar
Crystal, D. 2003. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gulf News. 2011. ‘Help Government in Emiratisation.’ Online at <http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials/help-government-in-emiratisation-1.769448> (Accessed May 26, 2011).+(Accessed+May+26,+2011).>Google Scholar
Hubais, A. & Pillai, S. 2010. ‘An instrumental analysis of English vowels produced by Omanis.’ Journal of Modern Languages, 20, 1–18.Google Scholar
Kachru, B. B. 1985. ‘Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle.’ In Quirk, R. & Widdowson, H. (eds), English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 11–36.Google Scholar
Karmani, S. 2005. ‘Petro-linguistics: The emerging nexus between oil, English, and Islam.’ Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 4(2), 87–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maierbrugger, A. 2011. ‘Private sector gets Omanisation targets.’ Online at <http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/private-sector-gets-omanisation-targets-1.761024> (Accessed May 26, 2011).+(Accessed+May+26,+2011).>Google Scholar
Martin, A. 2003. ‘An experience of teaching in the United Arab Emirates.’ English Today, 19(2), 49–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masliyah, S. 1999. ‘A cross-cultural misunderstanding: The case of the Arabic expression “Inshallah”, “If God Wills”.’ Dialog on Language Instruction, 13(1–2), 97–116.Google Scholar
Moody, J. 2009. ‘A neglected aspect of ELT in the Arabian Gulf: Who is communication between?’ In Zhang, L. J., Rubdy, R. & Alsagoff, L. (eds.), Englishes and Literatures-in-English in a Globalised World: Proceedings of the 13 thInternational Conference on English in Southeast Asia. Singapore: National Institute of Education, pp. 99–119.Google Scholar
Oman Tribune. 2011. ‘Fahd to attend GCC summit.’ May 10, 1.Google Scholar
Onley, J. 2005. ‘Britain's informal empire in the Gulf, 1820–1971.’ Journal of Social Affairs, 22(87), 29–43.Google Scholar
Poole, B. 2006. ‘Some effects of Indian English on the language as it is used in Oman.’ English Today, 22(4), 21–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Randall, M. & Samimi, M. A. 2010. ‘The status of English in Dubai.’ English Today, 26(1), 43–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, E.W. 2010. ‘Developmental patterns of English: similar or different?’ In Kirkpatrick, A. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 372–84.Google Scholar