Date of Award
1-1-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Second Language Studies
First Advisor
Donald Dyer
Second Advisor
Charles Joukhadar
Third Advisor
Vance Schaefer
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This study is designed to explore the attitudes of Saudi students at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University toward code switching between colloquial Arabic and English and toward borrowing from the English language in Saudi society, considering two significant variables: major studied and gender. The study utilized two tools: a) questionnaires that the participants fill out after listening to recordings demonstrating code switching, borrowing and Arabic-only and b) interviews that were conducted to explore further the participants’ attitudes and the reasons behind them. Both tools considered three dimensions: superiority, attractiveness, and dynamism of the speakers. One hundred twenty questionnaires were distributed to the participants who were divided into four groups based on their majors (English language, Arabic language, Islamic Studies, and Business Management), 30 for each group to compare the four groups’ attitudes. Then, the participants were divided into two groups, sixty male and sixty female participants, to analyze the gender differences. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and two-way ANOVA. Twenty-four participants were interviewed: six participants for each major group, three female and three male interviewees. A thematic presentation approach was used to discuss the qualitative outcomes of the interviews. In general, the English language and management groups rated the code switching speakers higher than the other speakers. However, most groups feel that the code-switching speaker is superior to the other speakers. The qualitative result shows that the quality of education and the comfortable social class are the reason for their feelings of the code switchers’ superiority. The interviews show that national identity is behind the negative attitudes of the Arabic language and Islamic studies group toward the attractiveness and the dynamism of the code-switching speaker. Although the rate of the borrowing speaker varied between the four groups, the interviews show borrowing is a normal linguistic phenomenon in their society. The quantitative data show no significant differences between the two genders, while the interviews also revealed a difference in how each gender group expresses their attitude.
Recommended Citation
Aldosari, Tareq, "Attitudes Toward Arabic-English Code Switching in Saudi Society" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2738.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2738