This book joins a growing body of literature that looks to distinguish yet de-exceptionalize the Arabian Peninsula, adding nuance to local expressions of language and identity while, at the same time, situating Gulf states amidst global waves of change. The strength of this volume lies in its portrayal of Gulf societies as hybrid, multilingual spaces, shaped and transformed not only by top-down government policies but also—and, sometimes, more markedly—by the linguistic practices of diasporic communities and transnational migrants, such as nannies, foreign-language teachers, and third culture kids (TCKs).
This theme of transition runs through the four parts of the volume, foregrounding questions of language and power, media representations, linguistic diversity, and English-medium instruction (EMI). In chapters 1 and 2, Sarah Hopkyns & Tariq Elyas and Ali Al-Issa argue that neoliberally driven top-down policies (such as Emiratization, Qatarization, and so on) project an ideological divide between Arabic and English, even as these languages are interwoven into fluid, multilingual identities on the ground. Media analysis of Saudi Arabian women's Instagram identities, Kuwaiti literature, and Egyptian television (chapters 4–6) attest to the fluidity and multiplicity of Gulf identity across technological, cultural, and national borders, as opposed to monolithic, essence-based conceptions of language or identity.
Moving on from Arabic-language media, the third part analyses the visibility (or lack thereof) of diasporic language communities. In chapter 7, Habibul Haque Khondker describes how Bangladeshi ‘third culture kids’ adopt a stance of ambivalence to contend with their transient status as children of migrants, counterbalancing feelings of belonging in the Gulf alongside more capacious notions of global citizenship. Common among Gulf residents, this ‘glocal’ impulse (a portmanteau word combining ‘global’ and ‘local’) represents an ideological alternative to the cultural biases and monolingualism of EMI educational settings. As Hilda Freimuth (in chapter 9) and Kevin S. Caroll (in chapter 10) suggest, government institutions, schools, and universities may benefit from incorporating pedagogies of multilingualism to more closely resemble the daily, lived experience of residents—both citizen or non-citizen—in the diverse, multicultural societies of the Gulf.
These chapters’ advocacy for multilingual pedagogy is commendable. Still, the book betrays an emphasis towards Arabic and English, with the majority of chapters attending to their hegemonic roles within Gulf society and their symbolic polarization. While this bias accurately reflects the dominant language ideologies of the region, future work may build upon this book's thesis by closely examining the status of languages widely spoken in the Gulf, such as Urdu, Hindi, Tagalog, Malayalam, and Bengali among others, particularly within education, popular media, and informal spaces. Moreover, for a book about the plurality of identities within the Gulf, the voices and positionalities of migrant workers are largely absent, barring the quotes by Bangladeshi TCKs and multilingual teachers who are nevertheless marked by their privileged class status. These omissions aside, this collection of essays provides useful insights into language ideologies within media and the government and will serve as a helpful reference for anyone seeking to understand the linguistic and educational landscapes of the Arab Gulf states.
