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Divergent institutional language policies and family ideologies in Arabic heritage/community learning
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DOI：10.1080/14664208.2025.2600118.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
This qualitative case study explores divergent institutional policies and family ideologies for teaching Arabic as a heritage/community language in the U.S. Through an in-depth interview with a director of a community center and four heritage families, the study explores the ideological orientations driving their policies regarding which varieties of Arabic, Standard Arabic (SA) and/or dialects, should be taught. The findings show institutional priority is given to SA as a written variety and a necessary gateway to Islamic studies, which are taught alongside Arabic. Integration of dialects was presented as 'unrealistic' and 'a form of fantasy.' Interviews with the families illustrate multifaceted indexes for SA and the dialects. While families conceptualized SA as 'an advantage' and 'a safe option' for communication in a multidialectal context, some families recognized dialects 'as important as SA' in the diaspora, arguing that they 'must be legitimately taught' to heritage learners. These conflicting, yet interconnected, findings highlight the divergent language ideologies toward the status and role of the dialects in the diaspora. The study offers a multidimensional picture of how Arabic varieties are valorized as a marker of heritage and underscores the critical role of ideological orientations in shaping heritage language maintenance efforts.
Keywords:
Family language planning
language maintenance
Arabic heritage
language ideologies
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