Islam and English Learning in Australia: Female Learners Working Through Differences

Hassan Abdilah

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.10n.3p.7

Abstract

The study examines the way Islamic religion and culture influence Muslim immigrant women’s participation in English learning programs in Australia. It presents a narrative of three married Iraqi Muslim Immigrant Women’s (IMIW) experiences in both mainstream mix-gender and women-only English classes in Melbourne. Two data collection methods were employed, in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion, to generate data from the participants. The findings show that the participants struggled to cope with mixed-gender classes due to some social, cultural and religious attributes including familiarity with single-gender settings, family commitments and the culture of their community. The paper presents recommendations for the Australian government to pay more attention to women-only classes to stimulate immigrant women to English learning courses.

Highlights

IRAQI MUSLIM WOMEN MIGRATION TO AUSTRALIAThousands of Iraqi Muslim Women immigrate to Australia with their families each year
The findings show that the participants struggled to cope with mixed-gender classes due to some social, cultural and religious attributes including familiarity with single-gender settings, family commitments and the culture of their community
As at 30 June 2011, 6.0 million overseas-born people live in Australia, most of them came from Muslim countries or regions (ABS, 2011)

Summary

BACKGROUND

Thousands of Iraqi Muslim Women immigrate to Australia with their families each year. The majority of students in such classes are Muslim women (Macrae, 2002) This action came in line with the Australian government’s social inclusion policy in which Australia sought to increase the immigrants’ level of participation in the broader Australian society. Iraqi Muslim women in Australia usually have limited participation in social activities with non-Muslims They tend to be with members of their ethnic group rather than with people from other different cultures. This closed social networks of Muslim friends and relatives usulaly limit the Iraqi women’s access to English classes in Australia as documented by Milton and Rida (2001) who studyed the influnce of Muslim women’s (including Iraqis) social network in their access to the free English hours offered to immigrant by the Australian government. Single immigrants’ perceptions and experiences are not covered here due to the scope and design of the study (future research about this group is highly recommended)

THE METHODOLOGY OF THE CASE STUDY

CONCLUDING REMARKS