Exploring Students' Self-Identity in the Context of Cultural Diversity at AlAin University, United Arab Emirates (original) (raw)
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Multicultural Learning and Teaching, 2014
The present research investigates the differences in attitudes toward multiculturalism and the level of ethnic identification among Arab and Jewish students in Israel. In addition, ethnic group effects on the relationship between the two variables were examined. Based on a sample of 142 college students, the findings indicated that Arab students showed more positive attitudes toward multiculturalism and a higher level of ethnic identity. Furthermore, the ethnic group had a significant effect on the relationships between ethnic identity and multiculturalism. For Jewish students the effect of ethnic identity on overall multiculturalism was significantly negative, while for Arab students it was positive, but not significant. These findings stress the importance of understanding the college multicultural climate at both interpersonal and institutional levels and of assessing its impact on both dominant and non-dominant culture students.
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 2014
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how learning experiences are shaped for Arab Muslim women students by the different educational approaches (teaching style, relations with lecturers and types of knowledge) and extent of cultural pluralism in three different higher education (HE) campuses in Israel. Design/methodology/approach – To clarify these issues the authors conducted narrative interviews with 12 Arab Muslim women students in the Hebrew University and in two academic colleges. Significant differences were found in the women's experiences between the university and the two academic colleges. Findings – Arab women had difficulty integrating in the university in contrast to a supportive more familiar environment in the colleges. The different environments also had different implications for the women's identity formation. The findings indicate that since Arab women students have specific needs stemming from their different socio-cultural background, they s...
STUDENTS’ SENSITIVITY TO ARABIC CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND ITS’ IMPACT ON THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF ARABS
hicham El Majdi, 2020
Negative media coverage of Arabs and Muslims in America influences people’s sensitivity and affects the lives of Arabs, Muslims, and people who look like them. The purpose of this mixedmethods study was to examine Arabic American students' sensitivity to Arabic cultural differences and its impact on their perception of Arabs. Twenty Arabic language students from a public Southeast university in the United States volunteered to participate in this study. The participants were male and female students between the ages of 17 and 24, from different ethnic backgrounds, and at various course levels. This study utilized a theoretical model by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to support students' cultural understanding. The model contained three standards: Products, Practices, and Perspectives. The researcher self-designed a survey instrument to identify the participants’ cultural sensitivity to Arabs within the three cultural standards. This study found that the participants have a profound awareness of the Arab culture; their perception showed the absence of Arabs’ media distorted images. The least statistically significant finding was the results students reported when asked to associate the term 'Arab' with Arab countries. The researcher suggests administrators will need to train teachers to develop lessons building around the 3 Ps framework and marry the theoretical ideal with the realities of the higher education classroom. Further, teachers should expand the use of the “C” of culture out into their daily lessons and try to identify the relevant extracurricular they can include in their portfolio of lessons.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2013
Israeli society presents a particularly interesting case of multicultural existence. The relations between Arabs and Jews are the most difficult and sensitive among the different groups in Israel, due to the ongoing Jewish-Palestinian historical conflict. Higher education campuses in Israel serve as socialization agencies where students from both ethnic groups share a mutual learning environment and need to cooperate in a predominant Jewish milieu. The present study examined group differences in general and specific attitudes towards multiculturalism. In addition the moderating role of ethnic identity in the effect of ethnic group on attitudes toward general and specific multiculturalism was studied. Results indicated group differences in general and specific attitudes towards multiculturalism. Jewish students have more positive attitudes toward general multiculturalism and more negative attitudes toward specific multiculturalism than Arab students. In addition a moderating effect of ethnic identity on ethnic group attitudes toward specific multiculturalism was found. These findings suggest the importance of understanding college climate at interpersonal and institutional levels and of assessing impact for both majority and minority students.
Multicultural Intensity: The Case of Jewish and Arab Students
ISRN Education, 2012
This paper introduces a new methodology for measuring multicultural levels/intensity based on a study on attitudes towards multiculturalism conducted among college students in Israel. We developed an innovative methodological tool, "multicultural intensity," that is composed of 8 different scales: the presence of two nationalities and cultures in the college; social friendships between Arabs and Jews on campus; studying in joint classes; ways of providing assistance to students for whom Hebrew is not their mother tongue; legitimization to deal with political and social topics within the academy; classroom curriculum; multicultural tools; reality and political views toward the Arab minority in Israel. We found that Arab and Druze groups manifested more support for multicultural policies than Jewish groups. The paper suggests that "multicultural intensity" will enable researchers and practitioners to collect knowledge as to the success/failure of multicultural policies and programs among various audiences and subsequently could improve their implementation.
Malaysia faces challenges in creating a new multi-channelled learning environment where international and local students study, connect and work with one another across classrooms, community and country borders in so many exciting ways. The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education has made a recent move to transform the landscape of tertiary education where one main thrust aims in intensifying internationalisation and ensuring a 10%-30% enrolment of international students. Malaysian higher education will therefore experience rapid racial and ethnic diversification of its student body. This paper will examine multicultural activities that have been a part of graduate school's work for many years. There is, however, little discussion on outcomes related to diversity initiatives, multicultural programmes and global educational opportunities experienced by the students. This paper reports on the findings of a recent study that has aimed to examine diversity and multicultural awarenes...
Students’ Identity in Multicultural Education
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN 2020), 2021
The lack of facilities and quality education in some rural areas has been a notorious problem in our education. Students sometimes choose to migrate to a new place to fulfil their human rights in getting a quality education that takes place in multicultural settings in order to gain a new identity construction. This study was done to examine the relationship between English as language learning in a multilingual context and identity in EFL classroom interactions. Furthermore, this study examined whether English as language learning and identity have a balanced contribution in EFL classroom interactions and how students are from different regions representing their identities in diverse groups' communication. Under the framework of a descriptive qualitative study, this study was conducted by observation, closed-ended and open-ended questionnaire. The result of this study is expected to show the balance between identity and English as students' communication language learning in EFL classroom interactions that students' identities reflect their home cultures and languages from diverse groups.
Higher Education, 2013
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the factors which affect attitudes towards multiculturalism among Jewish and Arab graduate students who experience intercultural learning in an Israeli-Jewish academic college of education. In Israeli society, it is in higher education institutions where young people from different ethnic groups first encounter the 'others'. This is due to the structure of the Israeli elementary and secondary education system, which is divided into Jewish and Arab segregated sub-systems. In contrast, the country's higher education institutions are open to everyone. The research population was composed of first and second year graduate students, all of whom were practicing teachers or involved in other educational work. Participants completed questionnaires and a smaller sample was also interviewed. All of the students are practicing teachers or involved in other educational work. Everyone perceived the college's sociocultural climate as an open and multicultural one in both years of study. However, these positive feelings characterized Jewish students to a larger extent than Arab students, while the socio-cultural aspect as well as the quality of the academic experience had a positive impact on multicultural attitudes primarily among Arab students. Thus, a multicultural climate is not enough to effect a positive change in entrenched attitudes toward multiculturalism. Multicultural education policy should also be reinforced through a formal academic curriculum, so as to set an example for ongoing social change which will further encourage graduate students-majority and minority alike-to implement their multicultural positive experiences in their own schools in the future.