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Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan / MATTHEW LAMBERT

Swansea University Author: MATTHEW LAMBERT

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUThesis.71695

Abstract

Minority languages and language loss are topics that are widely discussed at present as people become aware of language decline (McVeigh, 2023). This research was designed to investigate the extent to which the rise and spread of English in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) impacts linguistic and c...

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Published: Swansea 2026
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Higham, G.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71695
first_indexed 2026-04-01T09:31:58Z
last_indexed 2026-04-03T03:30:53Z
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Van Parijs (2011, p.36) and de Swaan (University of Groningen, 2013 50:04) actively promote English as a lingua franca, while Phillipson (2006, p.348) sees it as symptomatic of linguistic imperialism, leading to 'unequal communicative rights&#x2019; and &#x2018;unequal benefits.&#x2019; The study also draws comparisons with the linguistic situation in Wales to illuminate key differences and similarities in the sociolinguistic dynamics in both contexts, providing a richer understanding of the factors that contribute to language maintenance or otherwise in the KRI.The complex linguistic situation is under-researched in Iraqi Kurdistan, where there are many minority languages within a minority language area. As English in the area was of little value 10-15 years ago and is now one of the major languages of the region, this rapid change deserves to be studied. Up until now, &#x2018;little if any work&#x2019; has been done to account for this rapid change and its effect on the status of Kurdish (Paul and Ibrahim, 2025, p.191). Moreover, over half the population in Kurdistan is under 20 and the average age is just over 20 (Hennerbichler, 2018, p. 208) and with 36% of the population aged up to 14 (Baban, 2024). This demographic profile highlights the significant proportion of young people in the country, making the university student population a crucial and representative group for research. Insights gained from this demographic can offer valuable information and have broader implications for understanding the attitudes, behaviors and future trajectories of a large segment of the population in Kurdistan with longstanding implications on the future of the language.Employing mixed methods, the study focused on the University of Kurdistan Hewler and gathered data through one-to-one semi-structured interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, involving teachers, senior managers, and university students. The questionnaire made factual inquiries about participants' identity and language use, with an open-ended question for additional insights, and 17 Likert statements addressing language use.Findings suggest that the perceived threat of English to Kurdish appears to derive from five intertwined reasons: the prevalence of English in social media and other forms of entertainment, the prevalence of English in private education, the poor quality of teaching in the mother tongue, the lack of clear Language Planning and Policy (LPP) in Kurdistan and the low prestige of the mother tongue. 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spelling 2026-04-01T10:35:37.8480858 v2 71695 2026-04-01 Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan 7647cc8fcfa7c478488075004173e8a2 MATTHEW LAMBERT MATTHEW LAMBERT true false 2026-04-01 Minority languages and language loss are topics that are widely discussed at present as people become aware of language decline (McVeigh, 2023). This research was designed to investigate the extent to which the rise and spread of English in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) impacts linguistic and cultural identities of Kurdish students studying at Universities in the region. Van Parijs (2011, p.36) and de Swaan (University of Groningen, 2013 50:04) actively promote English as a lingua franca, while Phillipson (2006, p.348) sees it as symptomatic of linguistic imperialism, leading to 'unequal communicative rights’ and ‘unequal benefits.’ The study also draws comparisons with the linguistic situation in Wales to illuminate key differences and similarities in the sociolinguistic dynamics in both contexts, providing a richer understanding of the factors that contribute to language maintenance or otherwise in the KRI.The complex linguistic situation is under-researched in Iraqi Kurdistan, where there are many minority languages within a minority language area. As English in the area was of little value 10-15 years ago and is now one of the major languages of the region, this rapid change deserves to be studied. Up until now, ‘little if any work’ has been done to account for this rapid change and its effect on the status of Kurdish (Paul and Ibrahim, 2025, p.191). Moreover, over half the population in Kurdistan is under 20 and the average age is just over 20 (Hennerbichler, 2018, p. 208) and with 36% of the population aged up to 14 (Baban, 2024). This demographic profile highlights the significant proportion of young people in the country, making the university student population a crucial and representative group for research. Insights gained from this demographic can offer valuable information and have broader implications for understanding the attitudes, behaviors and future trajectories of a large segment of the population in Kurdistan with longstanding implications on the future of the language.Employing mixed methods, the study focused on the University of Kurdistan Hewler and gathered data through one-to-one semi-structured interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, involving teachers, senior managers, and university students. The questionnaire made factual inquiries about participants' identity and language use, with an open-ended question for additional insights, and 17 Likert statements addressing language use.Findings suggest that the perceived threat of English to Kurdish appears to derive from five intertwined reasons: the prevalence of English in social media and other forms of entertainment, the prevalence of English in private education, the poor quality of teaching in the mother tongue, the lack of clear Language Planning and Policy (LPP) in Kurdistan and the low prestige of the mother tongue. This study further identifies both additional challenges to the future of Kurdish,(such as the increasing role of Arabic) and recommendations at local and national level. E-Thesis Swansea English as a Global Language, Kurdish, Language Shift, Linguistic Imperialism, Multilingualism, Language Policy, Sociolinguistics, Minority Languages, English Medium Instruction, Kurdistan Region of Iraq 24 3 2026 2026-03-24 10.23889/SUThesis.71695 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Higham, G. Doctoral Ph.D 2026-04-01T10:35:37.8480858 2026-04-01T10:26:36.7066526 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Welsh MATTHEW LAMBERT 1 71695__36462__ce5bac3d473945d1821599aea977300d.pdf 2026_Lambert_M.final.71695.pdf 2026-04-01T10:31:13.2565864 Output 8817425 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright, the author, Matthew Lambert, 2026. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
spellingShingle Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
MATTHEW LAMBERT
title_short Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
title_full Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
title_fullStr Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
title_full_unstemmed Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
title_sort Linguistic dominance and minoritised language communities: English use in Iraqi Kurdistan
author_id_str_mv 7647cc8fcfa7c478488075004173e8a2
author_id_fullname_str_mv 7647cc8fcfa7c478488075004173e8a2_***_MATTHEW LAMBERT
author MATTHEW LAMBERT
author2 MATTHEW LAMBERT
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publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUThesis.71695
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - Welsh{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Welsh
document_store_str 1
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description Minority languages and language loss are topics that are widely discussed at present as people become aware of language decline (McVeigh, 2023). This research was designed to investigate the extent to which the rise and spread of English in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) impacts linguistic and cultural identities of Kurdish students studying at Universities in the region. Van Parijs (2011, p.36) and de Swaan (University of Groningen, 2013 50:04) actively promote English as a lingua franca, while Phillipson (2006, p.348) sees it as symptomatic of linguistic imperialism, leading to 'unequal communicative rights’ and ‘unequal benefits.’ The study also draws comparisons with the linguistic situation in Wales to illuminate key differences and similarities in the sociolinguistic dynamics in both contexts, providing a richer understanding of the factors that contribute to language maintenance or otherwise in the KRI.The complex linguistic situation is under-researched in Iraqi Kurdistan, where there are many minority languages within a minority language area. As English in the area was of little value 10-15 years ago and is now one of the major languages of the region, this rapid change deserves to be studied. Up until now, ‘little if any work’ has been done to account for this rapid change and its effect on the status of Kurdish (Paul and Ibrahim, 2025, p.191). Moreover, over half the population in Kurdistan is under 20 and the average age is just over 20 (Hennerbichler, 2018, p. 208) and with 36% of the population aged up to 14 (Baban, 2024). This demographic profile highlights the significant proportion of young people in the country, making the university student population a crucial and representative group for research. Insights gained from this demographic can offer valuable information and have broader implications for understanding the attitudes, behaviors and future trajectories of a large segment of the population in Kurdistan with longstanding implications on the future of the language.Employing mixed methods, the study focused on the University of Kurdistan Hewler and gathered data through one-to-one semi-structured interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, involving teachers, senior managers, and university students. The questionnaire made factual inquiries about participants' identity and language use, with an open-ended question for additional insights, and 17 Likert statements addressing language use.Findings suggest that the perceived threat of English to Kurdish appears to derive from five intertwined reasons: the prevalence of English in social media and other forms of entertainment, the prevalence of English in private education, the poor quality of teaching in the mother tongue, the lack of clear Language Planning and Policy (LPP) in Kurdistan and the low prestige of the mother tongue. This study further identifies both additional challenges to the future of Kurdish,(such as the increasing role of Arabic) and recommendations at local and national level.
published_date 2026-03-24T07:01:28Z
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score 11.1007185

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