Date of Graduation
8-2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
Advisor/Mentor
David Jolliffe
Committee Member
Felicia Lincoln
Second Committee Member
Mounir Farah
Keywords
Education, Arab students, Cultural literacy, English as a second language, Language acquisition, Literacy, Multiculturalism
Abstract
This dissertation is a combination of ethnography and case study which describes the Social and cultural context of literacy acquisition among Arab students at the University of Arkansas. I examine the power relations that define this minority group in the larger Social context and describe how these relations shape, transform, and sometimes threaten their cultural identities in the classroom. The dissertation investigates the different Social and cultural factors that facilitate or obstruct their learning process, factors such as age, gender, religion, and marital status. It explains how the students' acquisition of literacy exists within a larger dynamic process of Social and cultural idenification, assuming that cultural identity is a dynamic Social construct that depends on the environment and setting. Finally, the dissertation describes the students' fears, hopes, and stereotypes, helping teachers recognize when there is a cultural problem and how to solve it in a culturally sensitive fashion.
Citation
Al-Amrani, G. M. (2011). Multiple Literacies, Fragmented Identities: Arab Students at American Universities. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/117
Included in
Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, Reading and Language Commons, Rhetoric Commons