Multilingual Education Policies in the Gulf Region

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have undergone rapid educational transformation, embedding multilingualism at the heart of national development agendas. While Modern Standard Arabic remains the cornerstone of cultural identity, English has been elevated to an essential medium of instruction in science, technology and higher education. This shift reflects the region’s ambition to diversify economies, attract international talent and strengthen global competitiveness. Policymakers in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have instituted bilingual curricula from primary through tertiary levels, aligning language targets with broader visions for innovation and human capital. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 underscores English proficiency as a driver of employment and international outreach, while Oman and Kuwait have adopted flexible approaches that permit foreign-language instruction in specialised fields. These policies often coexist with private and charter schools offering French, German or Chinese, reflecting an increasingly pluralistic linguistic landscape. Implementation challenges include teacher training, assessment of multilingual learning outcomes and tensions between standardised language norms and emerging hybrid practices. Yet, evidence indicates that well-designed multilingual programmes support cognitive development, foster intercultural dialogue and enhance regional students’ access to global knowledge networks. The interplay of policy, pedagogy and migration has produced a dynamic education ecosystem, in which Arabic, English and other languages operate in tandem to meet economic imperatives and preserve cultural heritage.

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Multilingual Education Policies in the Gulf Region publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in multilingual education policies in the gulf region across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Medium of instruction: The language used by teachers for classroom teaching and curriculum delivery.

Bilingual education: A pedagogical approach in which two languages are used to instruct students across subjects.

Translanguaging: The fluid use of multiple languages by learners within a single communicative context.

Lingua franca: A language systematically used to make communication possible between speakers who do not share a native tongue.

References

1. A third player: Chinese linguistic and cultural influence at a UAE university. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (2024).
2. Role of teachers in reinforcing students cultural and heritage awareness at Abu Dhabi schools to meet global challenge. Cogent Social Sciences (2023).
3. Perceptions and attitudes of Qatar University students regarding the utility of arabic and english in communication and education in Qatar. Language Policy (2021).