Identity and the Consequences of Teaching in Foreign Languages A Sociological Study on a Student Sample from AUC

This study is based on the claim that there is an exaggeration concerning the negative impacts of non-Arabic instruction on the identity of Arab countries; for it is possible to teach in English and still maintain an Arab Identity. This study also sees that the link between Arabs and their National or Arab Identity is weak due to their frail civilization and not because their language is not suitable in expression or their because of their limited affiliation to the Arab world. From these claims, the study attempts to sociologically disclose the affect that English teaching has on students with theoretical majors in the AUC specifically looking at those who study sociology, psychology, anthropology, political science and communications and media. This will help in understanding how the students' identity has been created and affected and how loyal they are to their community and society as a whole.
After reviewing theoretical orientation and psychological approaches the study employs a specific frame work which includes the links between individualism and between the persons' identity that they have created for themselves where the society's development still remains the main scene for creating and developing the person's identity.
The study's information was based on the information gathered from 35 individual interviews from AUC students who come from a wide variety of departments. The interview was divided into two sections were the first being dependent on quantitative data and the second section was based on qualitative data which also helped in confirming the results gathered from the first section.
The study shows a group of different results most importantly that the identity of AUC students, which is associated with specific social behaviors and the evident dominant use of the English language instead of Arabic, is characterized with great flexibility directly linked to the conditions of the Egyptian society and the large gaps between its different social and economic classes. This has shown that instruction in the English language has not led to an identity that directly opposes and challenges their National Identity but instead has increased their awareness and has made them more open minded compared to those who graduate from public universities. It is also worth mentioning that their experiences have made them capable of communicating with both the local community and other foreign communities and societies.