Steering The Arabic Language Policy and Planning Agenda

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been a trail of policy efforts in several Arab countries to revive the usability of the Arabic language as the mother tongue in the Arabian Peninsula. These have emerged alongside widespread perceptions that the Arabic language is less utilized by its first language speakers. The prevalence of the English language combined with a bleak landscape of Arabic language pedagogies has contributed to the diluted usage of the Arabic language. This book chapter suggests a way forward to language policy and planning (LPP) for consolidating Arabic as a language of the future through education. The chapter argues that Arabic LPP is the gateway for making a change in the perceptions of the Arabic language by its first language speakers, amid a plurilingual landscape in the Arabian Peninsula. The chapter analyzes the most recent Arabic language policy developments in the region that have attempted to revive, maintain, and cultivate the Arabic language, building on outcomes of the seminal Arabic language status report and the Arabic Language Declaration of the United Arab Emirates. In doing so, the chapter advances the understanding of a language-in-education policy. This chapter contributes to the area of Arabic LPP by improving the accessibility to the Arabic language, as well as advancing the discussion of Arabic language-in-education policy.