Lecture | Middle East Studies Lecture
Sociolinguistic Variation and Pragmatic Development in L2 Arabic
- Date
- Tuesday 13 October 2026
- Time
- Serie
- Middle East Studies Lectures
- Address
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- 0.26
Abstract
Arabic is a multidialectal language, which makes it a rich context for studying sociolinguistics and pragmatics. However, in Arabic as a foreign/second language (L2 Arabic), this richness has been mainly mishandled in ways that contradict with important concepts in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) such as communicative competence, pragmatic development, and sociolinguistic competence (e.g., Al Masaeed 2022; Al-Batal, 2018). In this talk, I will focus on introducing some of the concepts at the intersection of sociolinguistics and SLA, discussing insights from Arabic sociolinguistics research, (standard and monolingual) language ideologies, the impact of language ideology on L2 Arabic development and pragmatics research (Al Masaeed, 2026). Then I will conclude with summarizing the main points of discussion and provide future directions.
About the speaker
Khaled Al Masaeed is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, & Arabic Studies at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA). Khaled teaches and mentors both graduate and undergraduate students in these areas, and his research focuses on advancing our understanding of second language pragmatics, particularly how learners develop pragmatic competence across multilingual and multidialectal contexts. His publications have appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Applied Linguistics, The Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, System, Journal of Pragmatics, etc.) and edited volumes (e.g., The Routledge Handbook Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics, The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Second Language Acquisition, etc.). He regularly contributes to the field through research presentations, invited talks and service on Ph.D. dissertation committees across a range of international contexts, including Australia, Canada, France, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, Qatar, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.