Muslim Speak - Motivation in The Muslim English Language Learner

Sunderland University
Boulter, J.R. (2012)
Global Englishes:
Motivation and Islamic conventions in
English as an international language (EIL).
Jeremy Ben Royston Boulter
Updated March 23 2012
Abstract. The English in the EFL classroom is still often considered to be indelibly linked to the
culture of the target language, which often means the culture of Britain or the USA. How well a
student assimilates the target culture is often regarded as the principle measurement of how far
they will be able to acquire both near native fluency and accuracy. Recently, however, there have
been concerted efforts to internationalize the context in which English is taught. Often this leads
to attempts to deculturise the target language by targeting the purpose the language is being
taught for, for example, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), or to limit its application to
national syllabus design according to subject and government religious policy, as is done in Iran.
Others propose English being taught as an International Language (EIL). More radical still is the
notion that English teaching be customized to fit the culture of the learners. It is this latter idea
that this study pursues. Among the Global Englishes is an idiom embedded in the language used
by native and non-native Muslim speakers of English which can be called Islamic English. This
study is a tentative approach to discover whether teaching such an English would be more or less
motivating and accessible to Arabic, and in particular Saudi, English language learners. It
concluded that although Saudi students would appreciate Islamic English in the mouths of
Muslim character, they were indifferent as to learning to use it naturally in English. In fact, the
study agrees with others that Saudi students wanted to learn the current standard English that is
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used internationally through lack of any viable alternative. Therefore the study suggests more
work needs to be done to ascertain whether using, or even teaching Islamic English helps the
motivation of Saudi English language learners.
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Contents
Abstract. .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Background of Study in the Saudi Context ................................................................................. 5
The Nativisation of English in the Monolingual Classroom ....................................................... 5
Language and Culture ................................................................................................................. 7
The Place of Intercultural Comparison in the EFL Classroom ................................................... 8
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 10
Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 14
The Research Design ................................................................................................................. 14
Participants ................................................................................................................................ 15
Collection of the Data ............................................................................................................... 16
Results and analysis ...................................................................................................................... 16
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 24
Implications ............................................................................................................................... 25
References ..................................................................................................................................... 27
Appendix 1: Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 30
Appendix 2: Interview .................................................................................................................. 37
Table of Figures
Figure 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 9
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Figure 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 17
Figure 6 ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 7 ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 8 ......................................................................................................................................... 21
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Introduction
Background of Study in the Saudi Context
English is taught in Saudi Arabia from the second year of primary school until the learners
graduate from high school and beyond. In principle, the policy of the government is to teach a
broad spectrum of courses at university level in English. The exception to this rule is the
teaching of theology, history and literature. Moreover, one of the core policies of the authorities
in the country is that one of the purposes of expanding the use of English is to serve the purposes
of preserving Islamic identity (Shafi, in Hadley 2004: 25) and propagating the religion. As a
result, conflicting views exist about the kind of English that should be taught: English geared
towards expressing the shared Islamic culture of the learners country, or towards acquiring, in
the most efficient and genuine way, the knowledge required in the various fields of politics,
business, art, applied science, modern society and technology.
The Nativisation of English in the Monolingual Classroom

It is becoming increasingly clear that teachers tend to talk from their own cultural standpoint in
the classroom and impart their cultural view to the student, whether this is done consciously or
unconsciously. They also tend to teach within their own competence in the target language. This
can be seen as both a problem and a benefit (Medgyes 1992: 346-7). The native English speaking
teachers acquisition of their language is largely unconscious, which would make him less aware
of the mechanisms that assist language learning, and they assume their familiarity with their own
culture makes them more natural teachers than non-native speaking teachers of English. The
latter, however, although much more aware of those mechanisms, often do not have the
proficiency of the native speaker and may be apt to transmit their mistakes in English language
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and culture to their pupils. At the same time, that very awareness makes the non-native speakers
realistic role models for their pupils, who can see before their eyes one of those learners of
English who has truly successfully acquired the target language they are aiming for.
Furthermore, it is argued that English is no longer the property of the home grown native English
speaking teachers (Richards 2002: 2) from the inner circle of Anglophonic countries (Kachru,
1992: 356), and can therefore be touted by teachers that belong to Kachrus expanding circle of
bilingual English speakers (Figure 1).
Figure 1
This paper broadly agrees with the following arguments in principle

[Native or non-native users] of English, [who are culturally distinct
from the standard native norms, should] claim ownership of the language
and consider themselves legitimate speakers of English (Bourdieu, in
Zacharias, 2003: 41).
[This means] contextualizing English within the [learners and teachers
shared] cultural norms (Jenkins, in Zacharias, 2003: 41).
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The principle underlies this investigation within the context of the course materials on offer to
preparatory year students in Saudi Arabia and how it relates to their motivation and engagement
within and beyond the classroom. The course materials attempt to partly meet Middle Eastern
cultural norms while still marketing the English taught in the course book as the linguistic
property of the North American English in the Cambridge International Corpus (McCarthy;
McCarten & Sandiford, 2009: iv).
Language and Culture

The English in the EFL classroom is still often considered to be indelibly linked to the culture of
the target language, which often means the culture of Britain or the USA. How well a student
assimilates the target culture is often regarded as the principle measurement of how far they will
be able to acquire both near native fluency and accuracy. Recently, however, there have been
concerted efforts to internationalize the context in which English is taught. Often this leads to
attempts to deculturise the target language by targeting the purpose the language is being taught
for, for example, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), or to limit its application to national
syllabus design according to subject and government religious policy, as is done in Iran. Others
propose English being taught as an International Language (EIL) the practical English used
between non-native speakers of English of different nationalities when communicating with each
other (Sprichtinger, 2001: 59). More radical still is the notion that English teaching be
customized to fit the culture of the learners. It is this latter idea that this study pursues. Among
the Global Englishes is an idiom embedded in the language used by native and non-native
Muslim speakers of English which can be called Islamic English.
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The Place of Intercultural Comparison in the EFL Classroom

To be able to select, accept, or reject ideas, concepts, and pressures,
especially those emanating from other and dominant cultures, people
have to be equipped with a good knowledge of their own culture and
history. This provides the bedrock upon which to judge (Hyde, in Gray,
2000: 275).
It is often the case that course materials can be alienating to the students due to a lack of cultural
sensitivity. Two conversations that are meant to present natural English demonstrate this lack of
sensitivity from the Touchstone level one course book. In the first, we are introduced to the
second male Muslim protagonist on page 38, (see Figure 2) infelicitously named Abdul.
Figure 2
Unfortunately, the authors of the book seem to be completely unaware of the inappropriate
nature of a name which means the servant or worshipper of without actually naming the entity
he is a servant or worshipper of. The students were immediately alienated from the character
rather than being engaged with his Muslim depiction. However, if the name is presented in terms
of American ignorance of Islam, the students may be able to ignore the mistake and adjust to the
manifest ignorance of the material writers.
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The second was on page 102, (see Figure 3) where phrases such as my goodness,
congratulations, thats terrible, good for you and good luck, in addition to hi from
page 38, were touted as appropriate responses between two Muslims when good or bad news or
sudden events befall them. What would have been much more appropriate are the standard
Muslim conventions, such as opening the conversation with salam, and using such terms as
subhan-Allah for surprise, alhamdu-liLlah for both good or bad occurrences befalling one,
mubarak for celebrating them, and taufik for the manifestation of good fortune or fate.
Figure 3
If that stroke of good fortune you see makes you envious, then one is obliged to say mashaAllah to remind oneself that whatever good one sees befall others is only due to Gods
compassion, and may be a sign that the same people you envy are from those whose actions and
beliefs will land them in hell. If the American expressions needed to be taught, they would have
been better presented in the mouths of non-Muslims. Where the questionnaire this study pivots
on mentions differences in American/British and Muslim conventions for socializing, these sorts
of expressions represent the language it refers to.
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One way to negotiate the resultant fortification of the affective barrier to learning these
expressions is to actually associate each one with its Muslim equivalent and persuade the
students to regard the two characters (Abdul and Faisal) as non-Muslims. In fact, making such
equivalent comparisons throughout the course would help to mitigate the negative effects these
cultural faux pas generate. In this way, the teachers starting point is the students culture which
can then be used as scaffolding to demonstrate the appropriate use of English within the context
of the learners home culture, and also teach the standard international use if ever circumstances
required it of them.
In the context of the above, this study is a tentative approach to discover whether teaching such
an English would be more or less motivating and accessible to Arabic, and in particular Saudi,
English language learners. It therefore seeks to discover if these Arab students in their own
country find presentation of the target language in their native cultural context more motivating
than its presentation in its native cultural context.
Literature Review
According to Roger Nunn, the various situations of our modern global society,
it is clearly inappropriate to teach language that is only appropriate in
limited situations in a target culture which may never be visited by the
students Nunn, 2005: 63).
He takes his notion of appropriateness from Hymes who relates language to:
shared understandings of rights, duties, norms of interaction, grounds of
authority and the like. (Hymes in Nunn, 2005: 63).
His argument is that English has to be understood in the context of these factors in the target
culture. Nunn, however, argues that appropriateness is now so varied in the world that a student
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needs to have multiple competencies in varied cultures in order to communicate effectively on

the international stage. In Figure 4, he identifies four useful categories of English language use
(Nunn 2005: 71).
Figure 4
Categories of English Language Use
If we look at the first category, it does not define which of the international varieties of English it
refers to. Spichtinger, for instance, speaks of various European Englishes that appropriate terms
and references in the ways suitable to their own culture, and identifies French and German
Englishes as viable varieties taught officially in Sweden (Spichtinger, 2000: 58). As a Muslim,
the author of this paper is aware of a form of English spoken between Muslims that is perfectly
comprehensible yet diverts from the standard English taught widely around the globe, which is
referred to as Islamic English herein.
Very importantly, Nunn identifies international efforts towards providing non-standard English
corpora for EIL. For example, the International Corpus of English (ICE), which is outlined on
their website (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/ice/) aims to:
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compile 20 national corpora of a million words to enable comparative

studies. (Sinclair, in Nunn, 2005: 72)
Twenty national corpora is a good start, but is still focusing on each local Lingua Franca. These
have to be internationalized, which will inevitably cause more exclusion than inclusion for a
formal corpus of EIL. Islamic English is transnational already, and investigation into its common
corpus of words adopted into the English framework is a workable project for the near future.
Some ELT course books have an alienating effect on students who
do not want to be culturally assimilated. (Gray, in Srdi, 2002: 102)
Consequently, Srdi surveyed fifty Hungarian University students in a study that researched the
status of English in general and of the cultural elements embedded in English studies. According
to her survey, the four most important motivational reasons for learning English were as a means
to succeed generally in the world (100%), and specifically in their career, their academic
qualifications and in communication face to face.
However, when cultural needs were addressed, 78% and 64% of the polled population felt the
English they learnt satisfied their needs in terms of their own personal lives and the lives of
Hungarian people respectively, and a full 80% said it helped them in their fields of study, as
well. Less than a third of the people polled, however, felt it fulfilled their needs sociologically in
relation to Hungarian society (Srdi, 2002: 104). It would be fair to expect that the lack of
Islamically orientated content and conventions in English taught in the Middle East would
similarly miss out on sociological needs that are grounded in the local religion.
Schema theory research proposes that using content familiar to students, rather than content that
may be alien or strange to them, is a major influence in the ability of second language learners to
comprehend the target language. In his study, Mulugeta (2008) supports the idea that native
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culture should be used as a resource in the EFL classroom not only to help comprehension
through lowering the affective barrier learners may bring with them to the classroom, but also
that content from learners cultures in studying English increases their ability to express
themselves; thus the use of native culture in the language classroom by both students and
teachers can boost the motivation of the learner.
An argument exists that teaching Islam friendly English constitutes political resistance to the
spread of a secular focus in teaching English advocated by western authorities in an effort to
wipe out Islamist terrorism (Elyas, 2008: 35). He reported that although there has been resistance
on the part of the Saudi government and its advisors, there has been a concerted effort to at least
be seen to move in the direction of the desired more English, less Islam (Cherise, 2007) on the
part of Western, and in particular, American policy makers by introducing English studies into
primary school. This paper, however, is not driven by political concerns, but by the possibility
that English presented in an easy to digest appropriate cultural package will lead to more people
wanting to learn and more people successfully acquiring English, and therefore more integration
into global communication through it.
Each culture needs its own space and only by giving them that space will a true exchange of
cultural perspectives take place. In his survey of forty-seven students at King Abdul Aziz
University, Elyas concluded,
The study of English does not appear to be an indication of an
imperialist purpose of Westernizing their Arab identity and that
learning English and Western culture is needed to the extent that Saudi
Arabian cultural and Islamic identity is [left] intact (Elyas, 2008: 45) .
In the light of the above, perhaps this study may not be able to answer the question it wants to
answer.
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Methodology
The Research Design
To assess how motivating course materials orientated towards the culture of the local English
language learner are to them in the EFL classroom, the instruments used were a questionnaire
and an interview (see Appendixes 1 & 2). The questionnaire consisted of eight statements, each
with up to five pattern variations, and two closed question, the former with six pattern variations,
and the latter with three. The statements and closed questions in the study used a four-point
semantic differential scale for the responses, thus avoiding on the fence responses. This
provided flexibility in response analysis as one could analyse both graded positive/negative
responses and total negative/positive responses.
All the statements and questions in the questionnaire were devised by the researcher. Two of the
statements focussed on the very topical subject of how Muslims dress, but another three address
two areas which have few, if any, research published projects focussed on it, as far as the author
is aware: the question of using Muslim verses traditional conventions of language for social
small talk, and the appropriateness of social mixing between the sexes, and manner of dialogue
between Muslims and non-Muslims. Furthermore, bipolar antonymic responses to these
statements were translated into Arabic so that any ambiguity in meaning could be eliminated for
the participant population. The other two statements recycle the classic dichotomy of opinion on
whether it is better for the learner to adapt to the culture of the target language, or the target
language to adapt to the learners cultures, while the closed question focuses on the
appropriateness of conversation between the sexes. To make sure that the questionnaires are
internally valid, the original questionnaire was piloted on a group of four teachers prior to
carrying out the main study. Accordingly, four items were excluded from each questionnaire, and
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one of the items from the pattern variations excluded from the question as they were thought to
be redundant. It was also suggested that the participants free opinion was elicited on what they
thought was motivating by adding the open questions. Thus the questionnaire was reduced to two
statements and one closed question with their variant answers, and two open questions were
added, asking the learner to describe one way the teacher helps improve motivation, and one way
the teacher could help the learner even more.
Participants
Although 120 participants were originally planned consisting of 60 male and 60 female students,
only 54 male students of the upper first level were the actual participants of this study. This was
due to the difficulty in obtaining permission from the authorities to sample females, as men and
women are formally segregated in society. The 54 students are all between 18 and 20 years old,
and study the preparation year English course as a pre-requisite to joining the undergraduate
programme of the university. In the pre-course placement test, they were all assessed as being
intermediate to advanced level speakers of English and were placed in the advanced stream of
the first semester course. The curriculum content is actually below the level of the typical
participant, and therefore supplementary and extension materials are used along with the course
book to both develop their skills and, more importantly, keep them occupied in class. The higher
level students were targeted as it is they who are more likely to need English as an international
language when they embark upon Master and Doctorate programmes abroad to advance their
careers. They are also able to comprehend English well and are better equipped to deal with a
questionnaire in English. Most, but not all, will be pursuing their studies in the area of medicine,
which is an English medium pedagogical subject area.
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Collection of the Data

A questionnaire was used because data can be collected and processed quickly and analyzed
quantitatively using Microsoft Excel. The interview format was used in a very limited way in
order to get some qualitative insight to the way the students responded to the questionnaire. The
interviews were conducted with six volunteers from the classes out of class time, but within two
days of the questionnaire completion. The information from the interview was meant to help in
the interpretation of the results of the questionnaire and in assessing the shortcomings of the
questionnaire rather than to directly assess the motivation of the students involved. The
questionnaire was distributed to the two highest level classes on the same day, once in the
morning and once in the afternoon. The students were asked to fill in the questionnaire during
one of their four daily lessons, which are taught in four hour blocks with ten minute intervals.
The questionnaires were collected immediately after completion and divided into groups
according to the patterns of graduate qualifications possessed by their parents. This was done
under the assumption that the students with less qualified parents may be more traditional in
outlook than those with better qualified parents.
Results and analysis

After the respondents supplied the personal details requested of them, the first eight statements in
the questionnaire concerned the conventional formulas used in course materials for greetings,
small talk and conversational gambits. How does the standard British/American conventional
talk stand against Islamic conventional talk when conversing in English? The respondents were
required to choose on a subjective scale how composing/disturbing it made them feel, and on a
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more objective scale, how appropriate/inappropriate it was for the portrayed characters to speak
in either convention.
Statement:
I find using American or British expressions of greeting, small talk and conversational norms
[composing/disturbing] [&/but] [appropriate/inappropriate] for conversation between [Muslims
& Muslims] / [non-Muslims & non-Muslim] and for [Muslims talking to non-Muslims] / [nonMuslims talking to Muslims] (Figure 5)
Figure 5
The column graph above shows consistently that the western norms of social talk were not seen
as demotivating or strange in the course materials whosoever are the speakers, When nonMuslims are involve in the conversations more than 70% of the responders felt that American or
British small talk norms were natural and easy on the tongue of the course book characters.
Interestingly, of those who disagreed only a minority felt using such conventions to be very
disturbing or very inappropriate, and the vast majority of them felt it was only quite negative.
The pattern only changed in degree when the words were in the mouths of Muslims. Only 6070% felt using American conventions composing, and the degree of composure was evenly
balance between 30% and 40%. Again, the vast majority of those who were negatively inclined
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were bracketed in the quite disturbing and quite inappropriate bracket. This largely agrees
with the figures Elyas obtained in his study at King Abdul Aziz University where 68% of the
respondents thought learning English would not harm their Muslim identity, and the majority
opposed separating the learning of English from its native culture.
Statement:
I find using Islamic expressions of greeting, small talk and conversational norms
[composing/disturbing] [&/but] [appropriate/inappropriate] for conversation between [Muslims
& Muslims] / [non-Muslims & non-Muslim] and for [Muslims talking to non-Muslims] / [nonMuslims talking to Muslims] (Figure 6)
Figure 6
There is more variation in the responses to the idea of using Muslim conventions while
conversing in English. This measurement, however, is not on what is in the course materials, but
what could conceivably be added to the course materials in the future. A huge majority of over
90% felt it would be both composing and appropriate to see Muslim conventions in Muslim
mouths, approximately three quarters of the respondents putting their positive reaction in the
very bracket. On the other hand, opinion was fairly balanced as to whether Muslim
conventions were disturbing or composing, appropriate or inappropriate in the mouths of non-
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Muslims talking to each other. Two of the responders did not give a response to this category at
all, possibly feeling it did not deserve one. When both Muslims and non-Muslims were involved
the opinion was half way between the two positions above. Between 60% and 70% of the
responders reacted positively, with the quite and very qualifications evenly divided. As one
would expect, there was slightly stronger approval of using Islamic conventions if the speaker
was Muslim. These figures may indicate agreement that learning western norms is acceptable, as
long as the Islamic identity of the learner is not threatened in any way, as Elyas concluded in his
study.
Question:
How strongly do you like to hear conversations in the course book between members of the
opposite sex when they are
a) strangers meeting
? (Figure 7)
b) colleagues at work or college

c) girlfriend and boyfriend
d) husband and wife
e) brother and sister
f) parent and grown up child
Figure 7
As can be seen, relationships that are halal by Islamic Sharia, that is allowed according to the
Law derived from the Quran and Sunnah (the revelation sent down to, and the example and
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teaching of, Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him) is heavily approved by the majority of
the students. Not only do more than 50 from 54 responders approve such intersex conversation,
but the number who strongly like exceeds the number who quite like it. In the case of
brother and sister, the balance between weak liking and strong liking is almost even, which may
be because that kind of relationship is regarded as weaker in Islam than the other two types.
When it comes to relationships that are inappropriate, even if allowed, or outright sinful, the
approval rating goes down, and the quite like rating exceeds the strongly like by a good
margin. In the case of the sinful relationship, approximately 60% of the responders answered
negatively. This is a strong indication that Islamic values are valued, and that approval of
western norms in language may just be for the purpose of not knowingly giving offense in
situations when it is appropriate to use them.
Statement:
I [agree]/[disagree] with the statement I like [reading and listening] / [talking and writing]
about a) American places and culture
b) Middle Eastern places and culture

c) Other places and cultures of the world
d) Muslims holidays and customs
e) Non-Muslim holidays and customs
The results in Figure 8 show that the responders were interested in receiving information about
the world in general, and that they were almost equally interested in the cultures of the Middle
East and America. 80% said they were interested in American places and culture, but interest in
other places in the world was over 90%. Interest in global cultures was closely followed by
interest in customs and holidays from the Muslim world. When you contrast the latter interest
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with non-Muslim holidays and customs, interest fell sharply. In fact, those that said they were
not interested were marginally more than those who said they were.
Figure 8
When it came to writing or talking about non-Muslim holidays and culture, there is a sharp
increase in the number of responders who were not interested in discussing them. Just under 60%
said it held no interest for them, while almost 40% said it did. These statistics were exactly the
reverse when it came to American culture and places; interest in America lagged behind interest
in Middle East and the rest of the world. Interestingly, where learning about the Middle East and
Muslim customs lagged behind interest in the World, the responders liked writing about the
Middle East and Muslim customs more than about the world. It is possible that favouring
production about what they knew was due to their lack of knowledge in the other categories.
This broadly agrees with Jenkins and other proponents of nativisation in EIL: That
contextualizing English within the learners and teachers shared cultural norms helps them to
engage with the vehicle to express themselves (the English language).
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The open questions from the questionnaire clarified that for the majority of the respondents,
motivation to learn was not related to the language and context of materials in the course book,
but to opportunities to practice the English they knew by freely drawing on both their own and
the teachers experience.
The respondents were asked for one way your teacher helps you to relate to the topics and
language taught in your course book and one way he could help more.
Sixteen students were attracted to the teacher because he went further into the topics of each unit
by giving examples and telling stories about real life and his experience. Some of them
appreciated the way he related topics to current events, the local community, and allowed
students to speak out about their experiences too. Eight students appreciated the way their
teacher mixed the topic of the day with fun games and jokes. One of these students mentioned a
day that they had a free topic to discuss. Six students appreciated the fact that the teacher did
not use Arabic in the class, and four of them liked the way the teacher gave multiple examples.
These four also mentioned the opportunity a free topic lesson gave them to acquire and use
new language.
Another ten students pointed out that the teacher gave students plenty of space to speak by
insisting that they discuss issues in pairs or groups. Three of the ten appreciated open class
debating. Four other students answered this question, mentioning reading aloud from books,
watching documentaries, spot tests, and the patience of the teacher in listening to his charges.
On the side of recommendations, a number of students requested more games and activities, the
chance to watch movies and discuss them, more homework and exercises in class and forcing
students to speak out in front of class as all helping in motivating the students. A few mentioned
the fact that the book was so low level they were already bored, and suggested letting them stay
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at home rather than come to class would be helpful to them in their other more important
studies.
Both of their teachers are white Muslims, one American and one British. Being Muslim meant
the life experiences they bring to class are often Islamic in context, as is the life experience the
students bring too. From the open questions it is clear that less than a quarter of the students felt
focusing on local culture and events would help them.
Discussion
Although there is some indication that the students prefer the praxis of focussing on the culture
they know, it is also clear that they are very much interested in the cultures they do not know. It
also seems clear that if the Muslims depicted in the course book spoke and acted like Muslims,
they would feel more comfortable with them. In three of the six interviews conducted, it was
indicated that not only the American culture characters in the book have been imbued with, but
also the names they were given, make them somehow alien: a joke not really Muslim. Because
of this alienating view, it is quite easy for the responders to feel comfortable with the way these
joke Muslims speak and act, and the lack of taboo relationships in the book also helps them cope
with the target culture.
Never-the-less, it is clear that this study does not provide an answer to the question as to whether
or not a course focussing on Islamic English would actually be motivating for the student. If you
were to ask one of the respondents why they were learning English that is, what is the driving
motivation to learn English, he would probably say, like a number of studies mentioned in the
literature, that he wanted to further his career, use it for the studies that pave the way to that
career, and because it was an important language for communication across the globe.
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In fact, in two of the six interviews conducted, the interviewee questioned why anyone would
want to learn Islamic English. The general feeling was that such an undertaking would take away
from learning real English and devote too much time to dealing with non-English words. From
that, I understood that the concept of what Islamic English is was not clear to the students. They
seemed to feel it was a kind of watered down English rather like the pidgin Arabic that many
immigrants in Saudi Arabia use to communicate with employers, customers and each other.
In order to make the study produce results that relate to the English used by Muslims, native and
non-native speakers of English, such as the Muslim teachers who teach the students, needed to
be involved. How much Islamic English goes on in class? Do teachers use Islamic English in
class normally and only switch to target culture English when teaching instances of it in the
context of the book? Do students customarily use Islamic English by default, but are not aware
of it? Classroom, staffroom and official meeting observations could be undertaken as an initial
step. Then a conscious programme of teaching a class through the medium of Islamic English
could be compared to teaching another class through the medium of western English avoiding
the use of Islamic English completely. After a limited period of two to four weeks, the two
classes would be taught through the other medium. After the programme, a similar questionnaire
to the one prepared for this project could be used to determine through which of the mediums the
students preferred to be taught and why.
Limitations
Initially the study was designed to incorporate both the male side of the preparation year students
and the female side. Due to the lack of response from the director of the female side, no
interviews or surveys took place on the female side, and this means that a very important
dimension of the study was lost. Secondly, there was no study of the teachers opinions and
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attitudes towards Islamic English. Since most of them actually speak the language, this is a
lacuna in the study and an opportunity missed. Insha-Allah, this can be rectified at a later date by
further research, and was beyond the scope of this project. Thirdly, the population of the survey
consisted of students whose level of English was relatively high, and who have already firm
academic and career goals. Students whose level is lower and who do not yet know what
direction they want their life to take were not included. They may have different motivational
factors less aligned with learning American or British culture along with the English they are
being taught. Finally, the questionnaire was not really able to address the question of motivation
adequately, as it is so difficult to measure. Furthermore, it is not clear what kind of motivation it
is trying to measure. The questionnaire does not clearly focus on the motivation the learner
brings to the classroom to engage with the language they are learning in a practical manner, and
deal with the tasks he is set.
Implications
The results are in line with the studies on what kind of English students want to learn mentioned
by Elyas, Srdi, and Mulugeta. They also agree with Nunn, and Mulugeta that local cultural
input helps to lower the barrier to learning which confrontation with an alien culture may bring.
However, the lack of an answer - to how a more Muslim friendly linguistic content in the course
may raise motivation - points to the need to add to projects such as ICE (Nunn 2005) not only
national varieties of English used locally among Kachrus outer and expanding circles, but also
transnational varieties of English such as Eurospeak (Spichtinger 2001: 56) and Islamic English.
Therefore, there is a need for Muslim teachers of English to become aware of the legacy they
themselves possess and to attempt consciously to scrutinise how their use or non use of it helps
the charges they are teaching in the acquisition of the language. When such a conscious effort is
Page 25 of 37
made, and a corpus of Islamic English is initiated, the groundwork for a meaningful comparative
analysis will have been established.
Page 26 of 37
References
Bourdieu, P. (1977) The Economics of Linguistic Exchanges. Social Science Information, 16
(6): 645-668 doi: 10.1177/053901847701600601
Cherise, A. More English, Less Islam? An Overview of English Language Functions in the
Arabian/Persian Gulf. Toronto University, retrieved 15 October 2012 from
http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/eng6365-charise.htm
Elyas,T. (2008) The Attitude and the Impact of the American English as a Global Language
Within the Saudi Education System. Novitas-ROYAL 2 (1): 28-48. ISSN: 1307-4733
retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://www.novitasroyal.org/elyas.pdf
Gray, J. (2000) The ELT course book as cultural artifact: how teachers censor and adapt. ELT
J 54 (3): 274-283 retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://203.72.145.166/ELT/files/54-3-7.pdf
Hadley, G (2004) Money, Politics and Religion: A Survey of Anglo-American Influence in
TESOL. Journal of Language Teaching Linguistics and Literature 9: 11-33 retrieved October
7, 2012 from http://www.nuis.ac.jp/~hadley/publication/3L/3L-2004.htm
Hymes, D (1980) Language & Education: Ethnographic Essays. Washington, D.C.: Center for
Applied Linguistics
Jenkins, J. (2000) The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Kachru, B. (1992). The Other Tongue: English across cultures. University of Illinois Press
McCarthy, M. McCarten, J. Sandiford, H. (2009) Touchstone 1 Teachers Middle East
Edition. Dubai: Cambridge-Obeikan
Page 27 of 37
Medgyes, P. (1992) Native or Non-native: Who's Worth More? . ELT J (1992) 46 (4): 340-349.
doi: 10.1093/elt/46.4.340 retrieved 9 October, 2012 from
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/hbishop/www/Medgyes.pdf
Mulugeta, G. (2008) Use of Students Native Culture as a Resource in the EFL Classroom: The
Case of Second Year English Majors in the Department of English Language Education of
AAU. Addis Ababa University retrieved October 12, 2012 from
http://etd.aau.edu.et/dspace/bitstream/123456789/1914/1/MULUGETA%20GIRMA.pdf
Nunn, R. (2005) Competence and teaching English as an International Language. Asian. EFL
Journal, 7(3/6), 61-74 retrieved 15 September, 2012 from http://www.asian-efljournal.com/September_05_rn.php
Richards, J. (2002) 30 Years of Tefl/Tesl: a Personal Reflection. RELC Journal December
2002 33: 1-35 retrieved 10 October, 2012 from http://www.professorjackrichards.com/wpcontent/uploads/30-years-of-TEFL.pdf
Srdi, C. (2002) On the relationship between culture and ELT. Kalb Studijos 3: 101-103
ISSN: 1648-2824 retrieved 10 October, 2012 from
http://www.kalbos.lt/zurnalai/03_numeris/19.pdf
Shafi, M. (1983) Teaching English as a foreign language: The Islamic approach. Muslim
Education Quarterly 1.1:34-41
Sinclair, J. (Ed). (2002) Collins Cobuild English Grammar. Glasgow: Harper Collins
Spichtinger, D. (2000) The Spread of English and its Appropriation. Unpublished MPhil,
University of Vienna retrieved September 12, 2012 from http://spichtinger.net/Uni/spdipl3.pdf
Page 28 of 37
Zacharias, N. (2003), A survey of tertiary teachers beliefs about English Language Teaching
in Indonesia with regard to the role of English as a global language. Institute for English
Language Education, Assumption University of Thailand retrieved October 11, 2012 from
http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/Archive2012/thesis_N_Zacharias.pdf
Page 29 of 37
Appendix 1: Questionnaire
I am researching the question of whether or not setting English language in the cultural context
of the learner will improve the speed of acquisition and help motivate the student when learning
English as a foreign or second language. The research is based on the proposal by Sandra Lee
McKay that English has left the field of a cultural product of native speaking countries and
become truly an International Language used by non-native speakers to communicate with each
other globally. Should we therefore teach English as an international language (E.I.L.) with
general norms of international use of English, or E.I.L. in local contexts for local aims and
needs?
This questionnaire is designed to discover what makes learning English easier, and more
interesting, and more enjoyable for you. In other words, how the course content and its
contextual presentation affect your motivation to learn English. I would be grateful if you
respond to the questionnaire to help in this very important area of research.
QUESTIONNAIRE
PART ONE: PERSONAL DETAILS
Please Tick ():
I am
My level of English is
Male
Female
Good
Is your father a University graduate?

Yes
No
Excellent
Poor or Bad
How old are you?

Is your mother a university graduate?
Yes
No
Which Taibah University Prep Year Level are you in?

Level 01A
Turn the page
Page 30 of 37
Level 01B
17
18
19
20+
PART 2: COURSEBOOK Interaction

For questions 16 to 21 please tick () one of the four choices:
e.g.
0. Salesman and customer:

Strongly like
Like
Dislike
Strongly dislike
QUESTION: When dialogues are between opposite sexes, how strongly to you like to see the
relationship between the people talking?
Strangers meeting: Strongly like
Like Dislike
Strongly dislike
Colleagues at work
or College: Strongly like
Like Dislike
Strongly dislike
Parent and child:
Strongly like
Brother and sister: Strongly like
Like Dislike
Like Dislike
Strongly dislike
Strongly dislike
Husband and wife: Strongly like
Like Dislike
Strongly dislike
Girlfriend and
Boyfriend:
Like Dislike
Strongly dislike
Strongly like
PART 3: COURSEBOOK Conversation

For questions 22-24, you should make TWO ticks (2 s); One for one of the 4 boxes:
[A) quite attractive OR very attractive OR B) quite repellent OR very repellent] and One for
one of the 4 boxes: [C) quite appropriate OR very appropriate OR D) quite inappropriate OR
very inappropriate] Where quite = do not feel strongly and very = feel strongly
e.g.
Choose one of the quantifiers

below (quite/very) for each of
Choose one antonym from A/B and
the adjectives you chose
one antonym from C/D
quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate
inappropriate
Please turn the page
Page 31 of 37
PART 3: COURSEBOOK Conversation (continued)

STATEMENT: I find using American or British expressions of GREETING, SMALL TALK
and CONVERSATIONAL FORMULAS in English course books for
Muslims talking to Muslims is
Choose one antonym from A/B Choose one of the quantifiers
and one antonym from C/D
(quite/very) below for each
of the adjectives you chose
quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
Non-Muslims talking to non-Muslims is

(quite/very) below for each of
quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
Muslims talking to non-Muslims is

quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
Page 32 of 37

STATEMENT:I find using American or British expressions of GREETING, SMALL TALK
and CONVERSATIONAL FORMULAS in English course books for
Muslims talking to Non-Muslims is
quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
STATEMENT: I think using Islamic expressions of GREETING, SMALL TALK and

CONVERSATIONAL FORMULAS in English course books for
Muslims talking to Muslims would be
quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
Non-Muslims talking to non-Muslims would be

quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
Page 33 of 37

STATEMENT: I think using Islamic expressions of GREETING, SMALL TALK and
CONVERSATIONAL FORMULAS in English course books for
Muslims talking to non-Muslims would be
quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
non-Muslims talking to Muslims would be

quite
very
composing
disturbing
and/but
appropriate.
inappropriate.
PART 4: COURSEBOOK Cultural Topics

For questions 30 to 39 please tick () either Agree OR Disagree:
STATEMENT: I like Reading and Listening to talks about
American places and culture.
Agree
Disagree
Middle-Eastern places and culture

Agree
Disagree
places and customs in the world other than America and the Middle East
Agree
Disagree

Page 34 of 37
PART 4: COURSEBOOK Cultural Topics (continued)

STATEMENT: I like Reading and Listening to talks about
Muslim holidays and customs
Agree
Disagree
non-Muslim holidays and customs

Agree
Disagree
STATEMENT: I like Writing and Talking about

American places and culture.
Agree
Disagree
Middle-Eastern places and culture

Agree
Disagree
places and culture in the world other than America and the Middle East
Agree
Disagree
Muslim holidays and customs

Agree
Disagree
non-Muslim holidays and customs

Agree
Disagree
Part 5. THE TEACHERS ROLE

Describe one way your teacher helps you to relate to the topics and language taught in your
course book?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Page 35 of 37
Part 5. THE TEACHERS ROLE (continued)

Suggest one way that your teacher could help you even more.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Thank you very much for taking the time to fill in this questionnaire. Inshallah, it will help
towards designing the best way to administer English courses in Saudi Universities in the future.
May Allah bless your work this year and give you the language and skills you need for your
future profession.
Jeremy Ben Royston Boulter
Page 36 of 37
Appendix 2: Interview
Ref: Student (insert nr. from 1-10) __
Level 1 (insert A or B) __ Sex of Interviewee (insert M or F) __
Please interview up to 10 female students and/or 10 male students. Make notes of answers in the
right hand column.
One of the main reasons you learn English is to use it in your future studies at universities and
your future career. Other reasons may include a social element or practical use - chatting on the
internet, for example. Motivation also stems from how a language course is taught in class.
Interview questions. (spend no more than 5 minutes per interview)
What is the main aspect of a course and/or the way it is
taught that motivates you more in the experience of
learning English?
How motivating is the need to pass exams?
Explain!
What is your opinion of ongoing evaluation of your
practical performance in the classroom?
Should course books reflect Muslim speech habits and
customs?
Give reasons.
What place is there for using music in the course?
What norms should the names of Muslims in western
course books follow?
How does Touchstone represent the typical Muslim?
Is the representation of the typical Muslim positive,
neutral or negative? Why?
How would you like them to be represented?
Which helps your motivation (in learning English)
more?
to use a completely western course book that does
not cater to your culture and religion.
to make the course book as closely related to the
your culture and religion as possible.
Give reasons for your opinion.
Thank you for letting me interview you
Signature of Interviewer: _________________________________________________________

Page 37 of 37

Muslim Speak - Motivation in The Muslim English Language Learner

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Muslim Speak - Motivation in The Muslim English Language Learner

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Sunderland University

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

The Nativisation of English in the Monolingual Classroom

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

This paper broadly agrees with the following arguments in principle

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Language and Culture

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

The Place of Intercultural Comparison in the EFL Classroom

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

needs to have multiple competencies in varied cultures in order to communicate effectively on

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

compile 20 national corpora of a million words to enable comparative

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Collection of the Data

Results and analysis

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

b) colleagues at work or college

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

b) Middle Eastern places and culture

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

Is your father a University graduate?

How old are you?

Which Taibah University Prep Year Level are you in?

Turn the page

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

PART 2: COURSEBOOK Interaction

0. Salesman and customer:

Parent and child:

Brother and sister: Strongly like

Husband and wife: Strongly like

PART 3: COURSEBOOK Conversation

Choose one of the quantifiers

Please turn the page

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

PART 3: COURSEBOOK Conversation (continued)

Non-Muslims talking to non-Muslims is

Muslims talking to non-Muslims is

Please turn the page

Boulter, J.R. (2012)

PART 3: COURSEBOOK Conversation (continued)

STATEMENT: I think using Islamic expressions of GREETING, SMALL TALK and