The role of social networks on the progress of English attainment: a study of Year 10 EAL boarding pupils
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Date
2014-12
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
The UAE is a country that boasts over 200 different nationalities according to the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (2014), located in a region most recently associated with vision, rapid growth, and mass development. The English language has become a critical necessity to bring this diverse market together under a “lingua franca.” This study explores the effects of social networks on English progress in a UAE international British curriculum boarding school. The observed population consisted of a case study of 11 boarding pupils, three female and eight male, who completed their first year of International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) curriculum in Year 10. All subjects were permanent residents within the school’s boarding facilities and under the school’s visa sponsorship.
Social network data was collected through the administration of a customized questionnaire, in addition to feedback/interview questionnaire responses provided by their English as an additional language (EAL) instructor. English progress was measured by examining the increase in attainment levels of English language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking and overall) from their entrance tests to their most recent English examination. Social network results were plot against language progress scores, and a regression or trendline was drawn to determine the directionality and strength of the relationship between the variables.
The results indicated that the plexity (or density) of social ties and the number of relations who used the target language had the highest positive relationship to the pupils’ English progress across most skills. An increased frequency of ‘non school friends’ in the social network had the strongest negative impact on language progress. This study proved that there may be various significant links between social relationships and language acquisition, and can pave the way to more sociolinguistic studies in the UAE’s mobile and transient education market.
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Keywords
social networks, British curriculum, language acquisition