LINGUISTIC IDENTITIES OF AMERICAN MUSLIM ADOLESCENT GIRLS

This dissertation study explored how Muslim adolescent girls negotiate their sociolinguistic repertoires of dominant, liturgical, and heritage languages to navigate weekend Islamic schools within their local community and public schools within their larger society. It also examined how these linguistic negotiations intersect with Muslim adolescent girls’ racial, gender, and religious identities. Fishman’s (2006) principles of the sociology of language and religion guided my examination of the linguistic interactions of liturgical, heritage, and dominant languages. I utilized Said’s (1978) work on Orientalism to frame the linguistic, racial, and gender negotiations of Muslim adolescent girls within its larger historical and political contexts. I used purposeful sampling to select three cases studies from diverse racial and linguistic backgrounds. I conducted thematic analysis using the inductive thematic approach developed by Braun and Clarke (2006). The study showed the participants’ longing for and pursuit of in-between spaces that connect their local communities and larger societies. The study also revealed that students of non-Arab descent had a harder social and educational experiences due to the lack of liturgical Arabic proficiency. In some public-school settings, speaking only standardized English was seen as a key indicator of being an “American.” The study stressed the need for a stronger collaboration between schools and local communities to help minoritized students see commonalities between what could be superficially perceived as separate worlds.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Elassi, Amal Mahmoud Rizk

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCarthey, Sarah
• Dyson, Anne
• Möller, Karla
• Davila, Liv
• Gonzalez, Monica

• Sociolinguistic Repertoires
• Liturgical And Heritage Languages
• Identity Negotiation
• Local Communities
• Orientalism.

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Amal Elassi

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120550

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F120550