Human Geography for Teaching in Higher Education-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theHuman Geography for Teaching in Higher Education. Answer: Introduction I believe that emergence of English as a global language, is nowadays deeply affecting the cultural identity of countries like United Arab Emirates and it can be said that the aggressive expansion of English language as a global language is affecting the cultural balance of UAE. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the new set of circumstances in UAE, which added to global English, aggravates the cultural fragility in the nation. This paper also sheds light on concept of identity and culture in todays world of globalization where world language like English is expanding in a rapid manner destroying the cultural balance of numerous nations. Discussion I believe that the 150 years of British rule in UAE has contributed to poor population of Bedouin tribes, poor condition of the pearl divers and traders and poor economic condition o the nation. After discovery of oil and subsequent departure of British people from the land of UAE made the economic development of the country easier and petrodollar significantly gave a boost to the economy of the nation (Huang 2016). It is seen that for developmental purposes, government of UAE brought in various English speaking workers from across the world and that has effectively contributed to the expansion of English language in the nation. I believe that due to presence of immense expatriate population is a significant contributing factor to the dominance of English as a global language in UAE. After the year of 1968, United Arab Emirates in developing in a immense pace and the government is trying to develop the nation economically and technologically with the help of extremely skilled foreign labors and that is bringing in a strong presence of global English in the nation. Figure: How global English affecting Emirati community Source: (Hopkyns 2014) In a survey conducted among the university and high school students and teachers, it was found that 99% of the students choose Arabic language as their first language and English as their second language. The regional tribal languages are day by day getting back footed and advent of western culture is ruining the base of traditional Arabic culture. The result of the survey is given below; Figure: result of a survey Source: (Mouhanna 2016) I believe that this result of the survey clearly states that English is affecting the Arabic or Emirati culture as majority of the participants of the survey confirmed that they believe that English language is affecting the culture and identity of the overall Emirati culture. In the survey, some of the participants said that there are some positives and negative sides of the expansion of English language and western culture in Emirati lifestyle though the negative sides are majority. I believe that expansion of English language in Emirati culture potentially contributed to inclusion of various English words in their vocabulary and reduced the importance of mother tongue in UAE (Zouhir 2018). It is also seen that people following the styles and accents of British people and that gave birth to a hybrid and imitated culture in Emirates. It can be said that the Emirati people should not allow English to dominate their culture. The Emirati community should stress on learning Arabic in th eir schools and in high schools, the educational boards should make Arabic paper mandatory. The official language of the state should remain Arabic and all the court trials, official works must be done in Arabic for sustaining the old traditions of the country. It can be said that the culture of UAE must be sustained by the Emirati community as they should not allow English to invade their culture as it can be looked at as sort of cultural colonialism. Conclusion Thus to conclude, I think, it can be said that the Emirati people should consider the fact that learning a global language is a positive thing but invasion of a foreign language which can affect the traditional cultures of UAE is not so good; and that is somewhat degrading to the beliefs and the basic cultures of Emirati community. References Hopkyns, S., 2014. The effect of global English on culture and identity in the UAE: a double-edged sword.Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives,11(2). Huang, I.C., 2016. Everybody learns English, and so do I: The dominance of English and its effects on individuals: What English learning means to college students in Taiwan?.English Today,32(1), pp.28-34. Mouhanna, M., 2016. English as a medium of instruction in the tertiary education setting of the UAE: The perspectives of content teachers. Zouhir, A., 2018. Louisa Buckingham (ed.): Language, Identity and Education on the Arabian Peninsula: Bilingual Policies in a Multilingual Context.