The Sociolinguistic Status Quo of the English Language Departments in Jordan: A Language Planning Perspective

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the missions and visions of the English departments in Jordan from a language planning perspective. To this end, a questionnaire was developed following Tollefson's model (1989) with a modified version of the instruments used in the previous studies conducted by Al-Abed Al-Haq and Smadi (1996) and Abu Dalbouh (2002). The items of the questionnaire targeted the five main elements of the study: the adequacy of the current objectives of the English departments, the adequacy of the English language courses, the sociolinguistic relation between students and English language, the English department policies, and the potential stakeholders involved in formulating a language planning policy. The questionnaire was distributed to 150 English language majors in three public universities in Jordan. The study concluded that the objectives of the English language departments are theoretical rather than practical, revealing a mismatch between the objectives and plans on the one hand and the outcomes of these departments, on the other. The findings also indicated that the objectives of the English departments are too ambitious and far beyond the needs of the students and the needs of the market; thus, a reconsideration of the policy followed by these departments is urgently needed. Keywords: Language planning and policy, Sociolinguistics, English departments, Missions, Visions, Objectives.