English Language in Jordan: Socio-Cultural Impacts and Issues

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the English language in Jordan. It begins by examining the historical background of English in the country, including its spread at school and university levels, and the increasing number of English departments and teachers. The report then delves into the political background, highlighting the role of the Ministry of Education and the challenges posed by political uncertainty and the dominance of Arabic. The core of the report focuses on the socio-cultural impacts and linguistic issues associated with the use of English, discussing the relationship between language, culture, and society, the implications of English as an international language, and criticisms regarding cross-cultural studies and linguistic imperialism. The report also addresses specific linguistic challenges, such as the limited time allocated to English education and the potential for a linguistic gap between native and non-native speakers. Finally, it highlights the pressure English exerts on the Arabic language and the increasing dominance of English in various sectors within Jordan, concluding with a balanced perspective on the role of English in the country.

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this paper is to understand the use of English language in the present time and the
various issues related to in the selected country Jordan. The paper is developed to present the
historical background of English in Jordan, the political influence in the use of English language
in the country. They later part of the report will highlight the various socio-cultural implications
and affects in the use of English language as well as the various linguistic issues that have a
major influence on the English learning in Jordan.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
History.............................................................................................................................................2
Political Background.......................................................................................................................3
Socio-cultural impacts on English language and linguistic issues..................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
In present world, there is no doubt that English is regarded as the international or global
language. English is considered as the language which has been spread across the globe in an
extensive and dominating manner in almost all the fields comprising communication, education
and international commerce. Jordan is not an exception to such a worldwide trend. There are
several countries that have included English as the compulsory subject in the school curriculum
so that it can contribute to the cultural, social, linguistic and personal development of the
students. In countries like Jordan, English language is given high priority in the policy of foreign
language. There are increasing numbers of issues which are faced by the EFL teachers in order to
teach English in Jordan. Teaching English language in a foreign nation is a tough job and had to
face a number of challenges too because of diverse cultural backgrounds, shorter time duration,
different learning preferences and various other issues (Alhabahba, Pandian AND Mahfoodh,
2016). But with the increasing involvement of the Government and supporting policies, there are
practices for resolving all these issues and to give English language as the status of national
language of Jordan.
History
The official language of Jordan is Arabic and is spoken even by the various ethnic minorities
who usually maintain their personal or own languages for their day-to-day lives. But there is
continuous spread of English too looking towards the history of English in Jordan. There is a
continuous spread of English language in Jordan both at the school as well as the university level
which can be analysed by various reports and data in context with the continuously increasing
number of students to be registered yearly in the department of English across the nation. In the
period of early 1962, there was only a single department of English in Jordan country established
at the city of Amman. Later to this in the period of 1976 to 1985, there was an increase in the
number of departments of English and it reached to 3 (Drbseh, 2013). After that, in the period of
1986 to 2013, there was much interest developed for English language and the number raised to
30 of the total English departments in Jordan. Steaming appeared as an essential aspect as the
flow of ten students ass continuously widening wishing to be registered under the English

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departments in comparison with the administrative expectations in respect with the students to be
enrolled in English departments. With the increase in the number of graduates in the English
subject, there was a corresponding increase in the teaching staff at the various Jordanian
secondary schools as the demand for the EFL teachers kept on increasing with a faster pace. If
the overall population is considered of the total English teachers present in Jordan, it is identified
that there were around a total of 22 teachers in the year 1962 in the secondary schools of Jordan
(Drbseh, 2013). But in the period of 1962 to 2013, there was a dramatic increased in the overall
number of English teachers. In other words, it can also be illustrated that there are presently
thousands of teachers who are currently teaching English in Jordanian universities and schools.
There has been a sudden increase in the rate of individuals enrolling themselves in the
departments for learning English as their first and prior language because of the key reason that
maximum of the employment opportunities required the candidates to be efficient in English
language. But in order to give importance to English, there are several issues comprising
political,, socio-cultural and linguistic issue which are occurring and acting as the barricades in
the faster reach and development of English language in Jordan (Drbseh, 2013).
Political Background
According to reports and data published by the statistics department of Jordan’s Ministry of
Education, the total numbers of schools have increased to 6,614 in 2014 with a total of 1,846,963
students. There is a significant and vigorous role of the Ministry of Education of Jordan in the
country in context with the delivery of education to the students ranging from Kindergarten to
the 12th Grade. The compulsory stage of basic education at Jordan comprises of 1 to 10 grades
and in that all the students are permitted to have free of cost education. But in the later stages
which are after the Basic Education, the total scores of the 10th, 9th and 8th grades are calculated
for determining that on which track the individual students are qualified to apply for (Alhabahba,
Pandian and Mahfoodh, 2016). The vocational elementary and the academic elementary
education are few of those academic tracks. Before the process of calculation of the grades, the
students have to submit an application in respect with the track to be selected by the students.
But the final decision is in the hands of the Ministry of Education fob Jordan. The power is also
in the hands of the Vocational Training Corporation and the Ministry of Education regarding the
teaching and learning of English languages. But there is increased level of political uncertainty in

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Jordan which is one of the biggest challenge for English language in Jordan. The nation is a
constitutional monarchy and is highly governed and ruled by the Islamic Action Front, the only
political party of Jordan and thus there is a huge emphasis of having Arabic language as the most
prominently used and the official language of the country (Alhabahba, Pandian and Mahfoodh,
2016).
Socio-cultural impacts on English language and linguistic issues
There is a strong association among the culture, society and the language to the sociolinguistics
field. Sociolinguistics studies the association between the society and the language. The
inseparable and strong links among culture, society and they language ensures the society’s
economic subsistence and is significant in regards with the cultural and social impact of English
(Bannier, 2016). The emphasis on developing EIL i.e. English as International language concerns
the association among the global spread of English language across the global borders and
various groups of individuals within the communities, each with a diverse traditional and ethnic
culture and language, since the period of colonialism to the present age of globalisation. The
spread of EIL as exploitive not only substitutes other languages but also displaces them as in
Jordan; the uses of English are displacing the existence of Arabic language as well as impose a
new ‘mental structures’ on the individual learners (Choi and Lee, 2008). Such ‘mental structures’
are considered as the ideologies that the Westerners take use of for justifying their individual
culture and pose these ideas on other people. With the continuous globalisation and
modernisation, the culture of the society and English learning is inseparable. There are several
negative implications upon the socio-cultural factors and that become the reason of criticism for
English language teaching in Jordan as for not comprising if the cross-cultural studies as a
central part as well as for not having any kind of principled consideration which results in
claiming the English language as guilty for promoting ‘linguistic imperialism’ in the country
(Crystal, 2012).
The culture is considered as similarly significant as communication for the individual idemtity of
the people are both of them are relayed to the economic subsistence as the key consideration,
therefore the colonization objects to the displacement of the individual identity of the colonized.
It had to restrain their resistance by marginalizing and forcing people to learn English as the

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language of the colonizers (Dalton-Puffer, 2011). And this is one of the reasons behind the
people of Jordan to consider English learning as inseparable from the culture and resulting
economic inequality with increased development of EIL. The observation of the people of lack
of cross-cultural studies is also considered as true with increasing use of English. Perhaps the
most disturbing and violent outcome among all the impacts of English is to develop the
arrogance of the English-speaking leaders (Elyas and Picard, 2010). English is no doubt a status
symbol of various nations in comparison with their official language and sadly in respect with
Arabic language in Jordan. It is an increasing realisation that English as an International
language is becoming adopted by the individuals who usually speak it as a second language
(Hanafi, 2011). The non-native individuals who speak English are more than the two-thirds of
the potential speakers of English in the country. English language is presently recognized as the
most principal international language of the world. In the upcoming future, there are extreme
chances of increasing number of people learning and speaking English as their first language
which will ultimately pose a number of issues and threats to the socio-cultural factor and thus
resulting in restraining people from taking use of English (Garton, Copland and Burns, 2011). It
is fair to illustrate that English is no longer considered as a language of any particular or specific
group of individuals and that it is not merely the consumer of the tradition of Western-Anglo-
Saxon. English is one of the most adaptable and fastest growing languages across the world and
in Jordan also and this is a major factor behind the various socio-cultural issues and challenges
due to the loss and displacement of they official language of the country from various parts of
the nation (Gándara and Hopkins, 2010).
There are number of issues which are there in English language and the first and the foremost
issue is the amount of officially allotted time which is there for education of English language,
specifically in the secondary and the primary schools. The limited time for English learning is
one of the major causes behind the restricted development of English language. There is no
specific agreement behind the initiating of foreign language learning in the schools (Hinkel,
2011). There are various linguistic issues as the teachers take use of English only in teaching the
English language and it results in a number of issues. English is now considered as a global
language and there are several negative aspects also which give rise to a number of issues and
challenges. An international language might develop an elite class with the native English
speakers who take benefit of the possibility to work faster their specific mother-tongue (Huwari

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and Aziz, 2011). If this was the situation then it may result in their benefits at the expense of
those individuals who have some other language as their mother-tongue and in such a manner
that there develops a linguistic gap (Ilieva, 2010).
The English language posses a history which is sometimes violent and cruel in context with war
and colonialism and the countries assumes a threat of future dominance in Jordan as the use of
English as a global language. Being an international language, it becomes difficult and unwilling
for the individuals to learn any other language as well as having increased use of the official
language i.e. Arabic. Making a single language as the global language i.e. English becomes
difficult, impoverished and technical for the non-native speakers of Jordan and expressing of
oneself becomes difficult due to the use of a single language (Jobo, 2013). English is posing a
dominant and increasing pressure upon the Arabic language and there are number of sectors in
Jordan where English is placed at the first position in use. The places or the sectors that have
vibrant use of English are at the airports, in businesses, scientific studies, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and tourism sector. All these areas have a significant and dominant use of English
language which is offering a unique position to English language in the country and as a result
there is also upsurge spread of the English language across the country (Khati, 2011). But at a
number of places there are challenges and issues that are rising with a constant speed restricting
and limiting the use of English because of a number of factors. There are also various ethnic
diversities which are there in the field of education that impacts the use of English language.
There are various cultural groups as well as individual preferences which impacts the learning of
the English language as people with distinct learning preferences have a diverse set of ability and
skills towards learning EFL as well as it also results in a number of issues for the EFL teachers in
making the individuals learn (Liou, 2010).
In spite of the various potential affordances of number of quality instructional programs which
helps in promoting the English language, the new standards impose a number of challenges
which are required to be considered at the time of preparing the teachers for the English
education programs (Pradhan, 2013). The various researches has identified that the successful
teachers of English language require effective knowledge of the learners, the effective practices,
language and the content so atht there can be offered adequate learning. There is also an issue
related to the understanding as the teachers are required to have a great experience of the second

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language learning so that there can be positive attitudes toward the various other learners of
English. The various New Standards impose an additional requirement and demands (Mitchell,
Myles and Marsden, 2013) There is a need of well-prepared teachers who can demonstrate
complete knowledge of the English language to various levels according to the demand and
standards. They are required to support the learners at the time of analysing As well as producing
the texts of linguistic demand they are required to take use of the language of the various content
areas so that there can be a support to the scientific, historical and mathematical conversations
and to comprehend and produce texts in those specific content areas (Mamo and Yigzaw, 2016).
Conclusion
English language is no doubt the most preferred, recognized and commonly sues languages
across the globe and had also attained the recognition of the global language. In almost all the
nations including them various Asian countries too, there is a continuous use of English language
in the various sectors as well as in industries. In the primary and secondary schools there is
increasing phase on English learning in order to have a status symbol as well as to compete in the
global world and take use of enormous opportunities available in the business world. From this
report, it can be concluded that there is a set history of the use of the English language but in
present toe there is a need to have effective learning of English in almost all the countries. They
report states that the political background does not support entirely to the use of English in
Jordan but have both a positive as well as a negative side. From the report and the analysis, it can
be stated that there are number of socio-cultural impacts as well as linguistic issues that are
required to be overcome fore having successful learning of English as well as its use in the
foreign countries.

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