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Bilingual Education in the Middle East and North Africa

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Bilingual and Multilingual Education

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

Abstract

Bilingual education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has a rich and contested history. Yet related research and publication in English is relatively new. This chapter synthesizes key literature published in English to provide an overview of bilingual education in MENA. Encompassing a number of languages and a variety of school models, bilingual education in the Maghreb, Mashreq, and Gulf states has evolved from different historical periods and sociopolitical, cultural, and economic circumstances. This chapter focuses on bilingual education as those “officially” sanctioned forms of schooling that engage Arabic alongside at least one other language, generally an “elite,” “western,” “foreign” language emerging from colonial or contemporary contact, rather than historically minoritized languages. Through selected cases, it serves to highlight commitment to various forms of bilingual education across the region, with varying success and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education and Human Development, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Zeena Zakharia

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  1. Zeena Zakharia
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Correspondence to Zeena Zakharia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. City University of New York The Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA

    Ofelia Garcia

  2. Faculty of Education The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Angel Lin

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Auckland Faculty of Education, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen May

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Zakharia, Z. (2016). Bilingual Education in the Middle East and North Africa. In: Garcia, O., Lin, A., May, S. (eds) Bilingual and Multilingual Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02324-3_21-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02324-3_21-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02324-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Bilingual Education in the Middle East and North Africa
    Published:
    25 August 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02324-3_21-2

  2. Original

    Bilingual Education in the Middle East and North Africa
    Published:
    22 March 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02324-3_21-1

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