A Comparative study of student's language use and attitudes towards MSA and english in al-ain university (UAE) and MSA and frensh in tlemcen univerity (Algeria)

Abstract

The present research is a sociolinguistic investigation about language use and language attitudes among students in Tlemcen University and United Arab Emirates University. It draws on main similarities and differences in terms of the participants’ attitudes and use of MSA and the foreign language: English in UAEU and French in Tlemcen Univ. Furthermore, it examines the field of study and grade level as variables that may affect the participants’ level of attitudes and use of the mentioned varieties. Besides, the study aims at revealing the participants’ attitudes towards the use of Spoken Arabic varieties in education. A simultaneous mixed method approach was chosen in order to provide accurate and valid results that vary in the gathered quantitative and qualitative data. The results reveal statistically significant differences in terms of the participants’ attitudes and language use.