Abstract:

Language is not only a tool of expression, it is also a tool for thinking, in fact, we think in the language that we use. Therefore, the language used by a person, forms part of his identity and links him to his cultural heritage and sets his place amongst his social group.

People from the same race or region used to use the same mother-tongue language, and although accents differed, the words and expressions were very similar. This resulted in affiliating people not just by their regions or their families but also by the language they used to note their cultural literature and other ways of expression. This also helped people feel secure through the affiliation to their specific region or racial groups.

However, the revolution in modern communications which brought about the phenomena of Globalization which also coincided with dramatic changes in the distribution of wealth and economic growth, resulted in people fearing problems that never existed before instead of just fearing militarily losses.

The challenges of Globalization have appeared more in the developing World than the developed World for various reasons. Although this has many advantages, it creates more challenges for the developing world’s mother-tongue, which is not preferred over that of foreign languages, especially English. The openness to the world has made students in their home land use their original language as their second language due to presence of many British and American schools. This issue has caused many doubts and raised many questions requiring holistic answers to help a whole generation find its identity to rediscover its history and build its future.

This paper will attempt to shed the light on the challenges faced by students in Kuwait attending foreign schools, in learning the mastery of Arabic language rather than using English as their first language. The paper will try to put forward solutions to strike a balance between learning and the use of the mother tongue and another foreign language at the same time.

Keywords:

Mother tongue as a second language.