Researching neoliberal English language education orientations in the Arabian Gulf countries

This chapter argues that there is currently no study that has examined how neoliberalism has become a language policy across the six Arabian Gulf countries from a critical comparative perspective. It also contends that no study has yet investigated the sort of tensions that neoliberal practices bring to the framework of the nation-states in these six countries, especially when attempts are being made to harmonise Islamic values and traditions with Western neoliberal perspectives. These arguments are set in the context and against the background of the rapidly changing socio-political, cultural, economic and ideological situations in the Gulf region.