Effect of Religion, First Foreign Language, and Gender on the Perception of the Utility of Language

This study investigates the linguistic attitudes of college students in Lebanon towards the languages that help define the multilingual character of the country, namely, Arabic, French, and English. One hundred seventy-six (n = 176) students completed a 31-item questionnaire that assessed their attitudes towards the utility of each of the 3 languages. The results of the study show that students perceived the foreign languages, French and English, as more useful than the native language, Arabic, in the domains of science, technology, and business. In addition, although the study shows no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of male and female students, it shows that the variables of religion and first foreign language studied at school influenced the linguistic attitudes of the participants. The results are discussed in light of the religious and socioeconomic composition of the Lebanese society.