English-Arabic Language Dynamics: A Systematic Self-Review of English Hegemony in Educational and Sociolinguistic Landscapes

Abstract

This study conducted a systematic self-review of 30 studies published by the author between 2004 and 2025 on Arabic–English language dynamics. The studies were categorized into six thematic clusters: English visibility in public spaces; linguistic intersections; lexical hybridization and word formation; linguistic hegemony, preference, and language attitudes; the effect of social media on Arabic; institutional preference and policies; and parental preference and home dynamics. This SR provides the first comprehensive, domain integrated synthesis of how English influences Arabic across public, institutional, digital, linguistic, and home environments. Findings of the review revealed that English dominance in Arabic speaking societies emerges through interconnected sociolinguistic mechanisms. English exerts a multi layered, cross domain influence on Arabic that is simultaneously structural, sociolinguistic, institutional, digital, and familial. It functions as a pervasive linguistic force that reshapes public visibility, lexical formation, language preferences, digital practices, educational policies, and home language choices. The six clusters collectively reveal that English dominance is reinforced through mutually supporting mechanisms as public prestige, institutional endorsement, digital immersion, and parental preference, creating a linguistic ecosystem in which Arabic experiences varying degrees of pressure, adaptation, and displacement. The corpus demonstrates that Arabic responds through hybridization, borrowing, morphological innovation, and selective maintenance, yet these adaptive processes coexist with signs of erosion in domains such as children’s early language use, social media communication, and higher education. Overall, the English–Arabic interaction is neither uniform nor unidirectional; it is a dynamic, evolving relationship shaped by power, technology, globalization, and local sociocultural choices. Arabic is undergoing a complex process of adaptive restructuring, showing resilience through innovation while simultaneously exhibiting vulnerability in significant domains. The review also highlights generational shifts, with younger speakers increasingly exposed to English dominant environments that influence their linguistic preferences, identity formation, and communicative practices. Taken together, these findings underscore the urgency of addressing the widening linguistic imbalance between Arabic and English, particularly in digital and educational spheres. By mapping cumulative evidence across two decades of research, this review provides a foundational framework for policy, curriculum design, and language planning initiatives aimed at strengthening Arabic’s visibility, vitality, and long term sustainability.