View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Dayton University of Dayton eCommons English Faculty Publications Department of English 2017 A Sociolinguistic Profile of English in Lebanon Fatima Esseili University of Dayton,
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[email protected]. A sociolinguistic profile of English in Lebanon FATIMA ESSEILI* ABSTRACT: This article provides an overview of the historical presence of foreign languages in Lebanon, focusing on English availability and contact from the eighteenth century to date. Through sociolinguistic profiling, the paper describes the users and uses of English, and it surveys Lebanese attitudes towards English. The article begins by offering a general overview of the country, its languages and cultures, and its ethnic and religious groups. It presents a description of users of English along with a characterization of how the interpersonal, instrumental, regulative, and innovative functions are manifested in the Lebanese context. The final section explores attitudes toward English. The paper argues that although Arabic is the only official language in Lebanon, English has expanded and integrated in the society, and it has a strong interpersonal and instrumental presence especially among the youths of Lebanon.