When homeland remains a distant dream: language attitudes and heritage language maintenance among Rohingya refugees in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the sociolinguistic situation of Myanmarese (Burmese), Rohingya-speaking refugees in Saudi Arabia, specifically on the participants’ attitudes regarding their mother tongue and the country’s official language, Arabic. The paper draws on data from a questionnaire and focus group discussions with 65 Saudi-born Rohingya refugees. The respondents generally held positive attitudes toward both Rohingya and Arabic. Positive opinions of Arabic seem to fulfill a variety of social and religious needs, including integrating into Saudi society, where Arabic opens the door to educational and economic success; and gaining access to the Qur’an and to the teachings of Islam, since they are co-religionists with the members of their host society. On the other hand, positive views of Rohingya both shape and are shaped by a number of social factors, including its use in the home and ethnic community domains, as well as its relatedness to identity. The Rohingyas have successfully created their own co-ethnic and co-linguistic networks, daily activities, and patterns of living in the low-income neighborhoods where they reside. The elements that appear to operate in favor of Rohingya and its maintenance are demography, ethnic community connectedness, and shared understanding in terms of origin, native language, history, statelessness, and destiny.

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage language
• language attitudes
• language maintenance
• refugees
• Rohingya

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under grant number (D-240-125-1441). The author, therefore, gratefully acknoweldges DSR’s technical and financial support.

Notes on contributors

Morad Alsahafi

Morad Alsahafi is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. His research interests are in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics, particularly bilingualism, heritage language maintenance and education, language planning (in immigrant families), and language teaching and learning.