Arabize among the Youth

Arabize Among the Youth
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Arabize Among the Youth
(1) Introduction and research questions
 The research focuses on Arabize use among the youth in the Arab world, including their perceptions and attitudes. Arabizi, Latinized Arabic, or Romanized Arabic, emerged in the late 1990s and combined the words ‘Arabi’ and ‘Inglizi,’ meaning Arabic and English (Alghamdi & Petraki, 2018). Arabizi has allowed the youth to bridge the gap between English and Arabic, mainly in social media. The popularity of digital media influences the use of Arabizi among the youth, but there has been deterioration in Arabic language skills such as speaking and writing. The research focuses on Arabizi use among the youth. 
The research questions for this paper will be: 
1 When and how frequently do the students use Arabizi in their daily communication? 
2 Why do students use Arabizi in their interactions, yet other more established languages are available? 
3 Do the users feel like using Arabizi makes them weaker Arabic speakers?
(2) Literature review
The phenomenon of Arabizi is increasingly common among youth in the Arab world who use English letters and numbers in place of Arabic letters. Standard Arabic is still the preferred means of communication among the youth, including those with knowledge of the English language. Arabizi is used in specific contexts, such as social media platforms. Different Arabic dialects exist, but Standard Arabic is widely used in formal contexts. With the use of Arabizi, there is now Standard Arabic in the written form, nonstandard varieties, and Arabizi among the youth communicating online.
There has been growing popularity of Arabizi, but there are campaigns to dissuade and stigmatize using Arabizi, linking its usage westernization and the loss of Arabic language, native culture, and religion (Alghamdi & Petraki, 2018). Studies on Arabic and Arabizi tend to take a negative and critical tone on Arabizi, and young Arabic speakers avoid using it outside social media and in informal settings. Arabizi encourages users to identify with a particular group, religious system, or lifestyle, making it easier to establish a digital presence and profile. This argument supports the research topic by focusing on why youths use Arabizi.
Allehaiby (2013) highlighted that Arabizi is more common in computer-mediated contexts (partly because digital tools do not widely support the Arabic script) than the Latin alphabet used in English. Arabizi users will likely continue using this variant as more mobile devices and computers become enabled with the Arabic script, but this partly depends on whether Arabizi is socially acceptable. 
Khatteb Abu-Liel et al. (2021) researched script-switching among Arabic-speaking youths in northern Israel when using computer-mediated communication. They found they used Arabizi as it was accessible and easy to use. However, they reported Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) was an essential part of identity as Arabs. They did not abandon Arabic but substituted the Arabic script with Latin script in social media. The findings further highlighted which students communicated in Arabizi that was easier to use, but MSA remains integral in their lives, and Arabizi is a matter of convenience and accessibility.
(3) Framework
Language is an expression of identity, and cultural properties are tied to language use. For Arab speakers in the Arab world whose first language is Arabic, Arabizi is a recent phenomenon that may seem to challenge their identity. Arabic also represents the linguistic and religious identity, and the notion of Arabize being associated with westernization is associated with the stigmatization of Arabizi use. Langston and Peti-Stantić (2014) highlighted that the Croatian language is associated with preserving the Croatian identity, and languages represent past and present traditions. The sociolinguistics perspective looks into different concepts such as language varieties and the link between language and identity to explain linguistic situations and contexts where languages are used. 
(4) Methodology
 The proposed research is based on a qualitative methodology, where I interviewed university students and teens from the Arab community to determine their use and attitudes towards Arabizi. The interviews were semi-structured and included an open-ended segment where participants were required to comment on the research question. I used the purposive sampling method to select Arabic teenagers and select twenty participants for the survey.
(5) Data presentation and analysis
I interviewed young adults between two male and two female participants in one girl and one boy government school. There was one girl and one boy in a private school. The ones in government school use Arabizi among friends. With their parents and grandparents, they typed in Arabic, and they did not mind using typos. However, the ones in private schools use the Arabizi frequently, but in formal situations, they talk English. With their grandparents, they typed in Arabic but were less proficient in using Arabic.
The methodology approach was proposed to interview twenty participants, but data was collected on four participants. While the sample size is small, the data collected informs the concepts on its use, why, when, and how often the students use Arabizi. The Latin script gets used in writing but can also influence how the users speak. 
Using Arabizi
The first ...