Language practices and language management in a UK Yemeni community

Abstract

Through observation, questionnaires and, particularly, ethnographic interviews with parents, pupils, teachers and community organisers associated with a Yemeni complementary school, this paper develops a portrait of language repertoires, practices and preferences in a Yemeni diasporic community in a northern English city. Also investigated are the language ideologies and the linguistic culture animating language management practices through which conservation of the heritage language and culture is pursued. One central finding is that despite strong affiliations to Arabic and active efforts to maintain Arabic skills in younger UK-born individuals of Yemeni heritage there appears to be a shift underway towards English-dominant bilingualism in this younger generation. There remains, however, considerable variability between individuals in language repertoires and Arabic language proficiency, and this significantly qualifies generalisations about language shift. The paper also comments on the secular and religious discourses found in discussions of the reasons for complementary school attendance, and on the efforts made by parents to secure the home as an Arabic-speaking space. The paper concludes with the observation that this study of a Yemeni community helps highlight a diversity within the UK Muslim population that popular discourses tend to overlook.