English in Kuwait: A Pattern-Driven Perspective

The overarching aim of this thesis is to delineate the place of English in Kuwait using Schneider’s (2003; 2007) Dynamic Model. The model posits that postcolonial varieties of English go through five phases: Foundation, Exonormative Stabilisation, Nativisation, Endonormative Stabilisation and Differentiation. Each phase is assessed on the basis of four parameters (historical factors, sociolinguistic features, identity construction and linguistic features) and types of data that allow each parameter to be properly investigated. The historical parameter entails investigating, on the basis of historical data, the arrival and local history of English and other low- and high-intensity contact periods. Sociolinguistic factors entail investigating norms, beliefs, local identity formation processes and the position and role of English in the linguistic contexts from the first contact until the present. The last parameter entails analysing a corpus of samples of actual language use. The levels of analysis are incorporated in my study: a) historical analysis (desk research) to assess the historical parameter, b) corpus-assisted discourse analysis (CDA) largely based on Edwards (2018) to explore the sociolinguistic factors and identity constructions parameters and c) pattern-driven analysis (PDA) (Tyrkk¿ & Kopaczyk, 2018) to assess the linguistic parameter. As for CDA, it analyses the interview subcorpus to explore a) the beliefs about English in Kuwait and the identities it indexes and b) the norms of the English language. Pattern-driven analysis sets to flesh out the linguistic specificities and developments of Kuwaiti English. That is, it identifies distinctive features of English in Kuwait: analysis of word distributions, functions, and meanings of selected linguistic features. To systematically arrive at the analysis of the best linguistic features, I made use of a widely known corpus linguistic methodology in terminology known as "knowledge-rich contexts" (Meyer, 2001) and contextualised it within World Englishes. Accordingly, after conducting four case studies (structural and lexical), pragmatic features (i.e. discourse-pragmatic markers) turned out to be the most salient and thus the ones investigated. The main findings that emerged from the analysis are as follows: Historical facts do not provide clear evidence for indigenisation. Nevertheless, they suggest nativisation is progressing slowly as metropolitan English models keep reasserting themselves through education and media. This parameter suggests that English in Kuwait is somewhere between the second stage and the third stage of the Dynamic Model. On the sociolinguistic end, investigation of language ideological matters and usage patterns suggest a faster rate of nativisation as many younger Kuwaitis who are in great numbers educated through English are currently not only speaking English to expats and non-Arabic speakers but also among themselves in certain contexts such as at home between siblings. This is a fertile ground for the emergence of an indigenised variety or a stage four state. Linguistic facts suggest that English became an important learning target after the Iraqi invasion and due to sustained and increasing use has started to indigenise, in that it is acquiring a unique bundle of features. The analysis of linguistic features suggests that Kuwaiti English is placed between stage 2 and stage 3, as the investigated features (discourse-pragmatic markers), be they superstrate- or substrate-derived components, exhibit patterns distinct from British English and American English