The Concept of National Identity in Textbooks that Teach the Arabic Language as a Second Language

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the discourse of national identity and its various forms in two sets of textbooks designed to teach Arabic as a second language. The study is based on content analysis in order to examine the main features of the national identity, and displaying any shortcomings in these textbooks, based on a survey conducted for finding the images of national identity that should be considered in textbooks, particularly those which are developed for teaching Arabic as a second language.

Since there has been a growing global demand for  learning Arabic and knowing its culture, there is an urgent need for giving enough attention to the studies, which are based on the investigation of textbooks designed to teach Arabic as a second language, instill it into our Arab culture, and create institutes for teaching our language to non-native speakers of Arabic. The study is also of such importance due to the identity discourse it focuses on, and at a time when dissolving cultural peculiarities and multilingualism is apparent.