Influence of the English Language in Shaping Islamic Identity Among Religious Secondary School Students

Abstract

Identity refers to how people understand their relationship to the world, how that
 relationship is constructed across time and space, and how people understand their
 possibilities for the future. This research examined some claims made that learners
 of the English language as a second language have associated themselves with the
 culture and practices of the native speakers thus eroding the identity of the learners
 as good Moslems. This research aimed at investigating this phenomenon, to what
 extent the changes existed, if any. The main topics to discuss were the influence of
 the English language towards religious secondary school students’ identity and to
 what extent the students could retain their identity as Moslems. There was one theory
 employed in this research called Self-Identity Theory. 90 religious secondary students
 and 8 teachers were used as respondents by conducting focused group interviews
 and face to face interviews with them. They came from urban, sub-urban, elite and
 rural schools respectively. The findings revealed that there were mixed responses
 from the respondents on the issues. 85 students, making up 94.5 % of the whole
 respondents, asserted that the English language did not change the students’ Islamic
 identity. Meanwhile only 5 students, comprising 5.6% of the respondents, were of the
 opinion that the students had been influenced by the culture of native speakers of the
 English language thus eroding their identity as good Moslems. In a positive note, it was
 also found that there were some good values instilled in the teaching of the English
 language such as confidence, helping each other, teamwork, etc.