Prepared by the researche : Farah Ben Mansour – University of Sfax, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Tunisia – Laboratory of Approaches to Discourse (LAD)
DAC Democratic Arabic Center GmbH
Journal of cultural linguistic and artistic studies : Thirty-Eighth Issue – December 2025
A Periodical International Journal published by the “Democratic Arab Center” Germany – Berlin
Journal of cultural linguistic and artistic studies
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Abstract
This paper proposes a conceptual framework for designing culturally sustaining English language curricula in Arab globalized classrooms. While English language teaching in the Arab world has expanded rapidly, current curricula often rely on Western textbooks and standardized frameworks that fail to reflect learners’ cultural and linguistic identities. Drawing on culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), culturally relevant and responsive teaching, and contemporary EFL curriculum design principles, the framework emphasizes six interrelated components: curriculum goals, contextualized content, pedagogy, materials adaptation, assessment, and teacher professional development. Each component aims to integrate local culture, heritage languages, and global English competencies to create meaningful, engaging, and identity-affirming learning experiences. The paper highlights practical and theoretical implications for curriculum design, teacher practice, assessment, and policy, and suggests directions for future research to evaluate the framework in Arab educational contexts. This study contributes to the growing literature on culturally sustaining pedagogy and offers guidance for reforming English language education in ways that affirm students’ cultural identities while preparing them for global participation.
Keywords: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, EFL Curricula, Arab World, Curriculum Design, Globalization
- Introduction
The teaching and learning of English in Arab educational systems have undergone significant changes over the past two decades, largely driven by regional globalization, economic restructuring, and the growing presence of English as a key language in higher education and the labor market. Across many Arab countries, English has shifted from being a foreign language taught primarily for literacy to becoming an essential tool for academic success, professional mobility, and international engagement. This growing status has encouraged governments and educational institutions to reform curricula, update teaching materials, and adopt internationally recognized textbooks, most of which are produced in the United States and the United Kingdom (Al-Issa, 2020, p. 112). While these reforms have expanded access to English language learning, they have also intensified concerns regarding the cultural relevance and contextual appropriateness of imported curricular materials.
Several scholars argue that English language teaching (ELT) in Arab contexts remains heavily shaped by Western norms, native-speaker cultural references, and assumptions that do not reflect the lived realities of Arab learners (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014, p. 135; Alrashidi and Phan, 2022, p. 45). These materials often present cultural narratives, social interactions, and linguistic patterns that feel unfamiliar or distant to students. As a result, learners may perceive English as disconnected from their identities, local knowledge, or sociocultural environments. Such disconnection raises questions about the extent to which ELT curricula support learner engagement, motivation, and a sense of belonging within the classroom.
In response to these trends, recent scholarship highlights the need for approaches to English curriculum design that do not merely accommodate cultural differences but actively affirm and sustain learners’ cultural identities. Culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP), introduced by Paris and Alim (2017, p. 1), offers a framework for reimagining education in ways that preserve linguistic and cultural diversity rather than asking students to conform to dominant cultural norms. CSP builds on earlier movements such as culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2018), culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 2021), and multicultural education (Banks, 2019), but extends them by emphasizing the long-term maintenance of students’ heritage cultures within globalized learning environments.
In the past five years, research on CSP has accelerated, especially in multilingual and multicultural educational contexts. Studies conducted between 2020 and 2025 emphasize the importance of designing curricula that empower learners, integrate local cultures into instructional practices, and challenge the dominance of Western-centric perspectives (Jones, 2023, p. 58; Ahmed and Suleiman, 2024, p. 77). This shift reflects a broader international movement toward educational equity, cultural inclusion, and critical awareness in language teaching. Yet despite the richness of this global literature, its application to English language curriculum design in the Arab world remains limited. Existing studies tend to focus on teacher beliefs, textbook evaluations, or general discussions of culture in ELT, leaving a significant gap in conceptual models that explain how CSP can practically guide the design of culturally sustaining English language curricula.
Although scholars increasingly recognize the importance of culturally grounded ELT practices, very few studies explicitly address how CSP principles can be translated into curriculum design processes within Arab educational systems. The gap is visible in three key areas:
- Curricular Models: Few conceptual frameworks exist to guide curriculum designers in adapting or creating English language materials that reflect Arab learners’ cultural identities and multilingual realities.
- Local Knowledge Integration: Research rarely explains how local histories, texts, cultural references, and linguistic resources can be meaningfully incorporated into ELT curricula.
- Alignment with Globalization: There is a lack of studies that balance global English requirements with culturally sustaining approaches, especially in higher education where English often dominates instructional language.
Consequently, Arab educators and policymakers lack practical theoretical guidance on how to shift from Western-imported materials toward culturally grounded curricular designs informed by CSP. Building on the research gap, this conceptual paper is guided by the following questions:
- How can culturally sustaining pedagogy inform the theoretical foundations of English language curriculum design in Arab globalized classrooms?
- What cultural limitations or misalignments characterize current English language teaching materials and practices in Arab educational contexts?
- What conceptual framework can support the development of culturally sustaining English language curricula that affirm and preserve Arab learners’ cultural identities?
These questions directly link the identified research gap with the goal of developing a framework that addresses both theoretical and practical concerns in Arab ELT contexts. This conceptual paper responds to the identified gap by offering a framework for designing culturally sustaining English language curricula tailored to Arab globalized classrooms. It emphasizes the need to rethink ELT curriculum design in relation to:
- cultural identity
- sociolinguistic diversity
- heritage language maintenance
- student agency
- globalized competencies
- local knowledge systems
By proposing a conceptual model grounded in CSP, this paper aims to assist educators, curriculum developers, material writers, and policymakers in reimagining English language teaching in culturally affirming ways. The framework provided in this study is particularly relevant in a period marked by rapid globalization, shifting cultural identities, and demands for more inclusive and equitable pedagogical practices.
This conceptual paper proceeds as follows. Section two presents an extended literature review on culturally responsive and culturally sustaining pedagogy, highlighting its evolution and recent applications in language education. The third part analyzes the limitations of current English language curricula in Arab contexts, drawing from recent studies and theoretical insights. Section four introduces the proposed conceptual framework for designing culturally sustaining ELT curricula. The fifth section discusses implications for curriculum reform and teacher professional development. And finally, the last part concludes the paper and suggests directions for future research.
- Literature review
2.1. Evolution of culture-based pedagogies
The discussion of culture in education has evolved significantly over the past decades, beginning with multicultural education, which sought to ensure representation of diverse cultural groups within the curriculum. Banks (2019, p. 44) emphasizes that the early multicultural movement aimed to promote cultural awareness and reduce educational inequalities, but often remained superficial because it focused on adding cultural content rather than transforming pedagogy. This concern later led to the emergence of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), introduced by Ladson-Billings in the 1990s and developed further in her later works (2021, p. 90). CRP shifted attention from cultural artifacts to teaching approaches that foster academic success, cultural competence, and critical consciousness. According to Ladson-Billings (2021, p. 92), culturally relevant pedagogy empowers students to question power relations and connect learning with their communities and identities.
Building on CRP, culturally responsive teaching further expanded the focus on how teachers can design instruction that is responsive to learners’ cultural backgrounds. Gay (2018, p. 75) argues that teachers need to understand the cultural characteristics of their students and use them as a foundation for instruction. She highlights the importance of culturally mediated communication styles, classroom interactions, and instructional tools that validate students’ cultural experiences. By the late 2010s, culturally responsive teaching became widely recognized in teacher education, yet many scholars observed that it sometimes stopped at “responding” rather than sustaining cultural practices in the long term. This evolution, from including culture, to responding to culture, to sustaining culture, created fertile ground for the emergence of culturally sustaining pedagogy.
2.2. Emergence of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP)
Culturally sustaining pedagogy was introduced by Paris (2012) and later expanded with Alim (Paris and Alim, 2017, p. 2) as a framework that moves beyond responsiveness to focus on sustaining the linguistic and cultural practices of communities in the face of globalization and linguistic homogenization. Paris and Alim (2017, p. 3) argue that education must not only acknowledge student cultures but also actively support their continued development, particularly for communities whose languages and identities face marginalization.
Over the past five years, CSP has gained significant attention in multilingual and multicultural educational contexts. Recent research (Jones, 2023, p. 58; Ahmed and Suleiman, 2024, p. 77) shows that CSP encourages teachers to integrate community knowledge, heritage languages, and local cultural practices into instructional design. These studies highlight CSP’s relevance in contexts where learners negotiate multiple identities, as is often the case in globalized educational systems. Scholars emphasize that CSP does not reject global competencies; rather, it aims to balance global participation with cultural continuity, offering a more holistic vision of education in culturally diverse societies. In language education specifically, CSP has been recognized as a promising approach for designing curricula that validate students’ linguistic repertoires while supporting their acquisition of global languages such as English.
2.3. CSP in language education
The field of language education has increasingly adopted CSP principles to address issues of identity, power, and linguistic diversity. According to research by Lee (2024, p. 112), CSP offers a way to reframe language teaching so that multilingual learners are seen as holders of rich linguistic resources instead of deficient speakers of a target language. In literacy education, scholars such as García and Kleyn (2020, p. 51) show that sustaining students’ home languages enhances metalinguistic awareness and supports deeper connections to academic content. This is particularly important in English language teaching contexts where learners often come from multilingual backgrounds.
Studies conducted in ESL/EFL environments (Jones, 2023; Rahman, 2024) demonstrate that CSP encourages the integration of local texts, community perspectives, and critical discussions of cultural representation in English materials. Teachers who adopt CSP-inspired strategies tend to design tasks that allow students to draw on their cultural knowledge, challenge stereotypes in English textbooks, and connect global English themes to local realities. However, researchers also note challenges, including lack of teacher training, limited culturally relevant materials, and the dominance of Western-centric global ELT markets. Taken together, these studies suggest that CSP provides a powerful lens for redesigning English language curricula; one that affirms students’ identities while supporting linguistic proficiency.
2.4. English language teaching in Arab contexts
English language teaching across Arab educational systems is often shaped by imported curricular models and global ELT markets. Mahboob and Elyas (2014, p. 135) observe that many English textbooks used in the Gulf include cultural references, values, and social practices that differ significantly from local contexts. This mismatch can lead to learner disengagement and difficulties connecting classroom content to real-life experiences. More recent studies (Alrashidi and Phan, 2022, p. 45; Alsulami, 2023, p. 58) highlight that Arab teachers frequently express concerns about the limited cultural relevance of Western-produced materials. They note that these textbooks tend to prioritize Western traditions, holidays, communication norms, and lifestyle examples, leaving little room for exploring local or regional cultures. Teachers often feel pressured to adhere to rigid curricular guidelines, preventing them from integrating students’ cultural backgrounds into their lessons.
Other research (Ahmed and Suleiman, 2024, p. 77) argues that this cultural disconnect is particularly problematic in higher education, where English-medium instruction has expanded rapidly. While students may develop linguistic skills, they often struggle to see how English connects to their identities, values, or communities. This disconnect highlights the need for curricular models that balance global English competencies with culturally sustaining design principles.
2.5. Gaps in the literature
Although the literature on CSP is growing internationally, important gaps remain regarding its application to Arab educational contexts:
- Lack of conceptual frameworks addressing how CSP can guide English curriculum design in the Arab world.
- Limited analysis of how local knowledge, cultural practices, and regional identities can be embedded in ELT materials.
- Minimal discussion on the balance between globalization’s demands and sustaining cultural identities in English language instruction.
- Insufficient attention to curriculum reform and policy shifts needed to support CSP-informed approaches.
These gaps reinforce the need for the present conceptual paper, which seeks to develop a culturally sustaining framework specifically tailored to English language curricula in Arab globalized classrooms.
- Limitations of current English language curricula in Arab contexts
Despite widespread English language education reforms across the Arab world, current curricula face several limitations that hinder their ability to support culturally sustaining learning. Many curricula are heavily reliant on Western-produced textbooks and standardized frameworks that prioritize native-speaker norms and Western cultural references (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014, p. 135). While these materials aim to develop students’ linguistic proficiency, they often fail to acknowledge learners’ sociocultural backgrounds, resulting in a disconnect between classroom content and students’ lived experiences. This misalignment can reduce learner motivation, limit engagement, and weaken the relevance of English language learning for Arab students (Alrashidi and Phan, 2022, p. 45).
3.1. Cultural misalignment
One of the most notable limitations is the cultural misalignment of content. English textbooks commonly feature Western holidays, idioms, social norms, and interpersonal interactions that are unfamiliar to Arab learners. Research indicates that such content can inadvertently promote cultural assimilation rather than affirm students’ identities (Alsulami, 2023, p. 58). For example, learners may struggle to relate to classroom scenarios, dialogues, or literary texts that reflect foreign lifestyles and values. This gap reduces the effectiveness of teaching and restricts students’ ability to critically engage with English content in a meaningful way.
3.2. Linguistic and identity constraints
Another limitation involves the neglect of students’ linguistic and cultural identities. Arab learners often enter classrooms with diverse dialects, bilingual or multilingual backgrounds, and rich cultural knowledge. However, current curricula frequently emphasize standardized English norms, discouraging students from drawing on their home languages and experiences. According to Ahmed and Suleiman (2024, p. 77), such practices can marginalize learners’ linguistic repertoires and limit opportunities to build connections between English and local cultural knowledge. This approach fails to leverage the cognitive and cultural benefits of translanguaging and culturally sustaining pedagogical practices.
3.3. Teacher challenges
Teachers are also affected by the limitations of existing curricula. Many Arab educators report feeling constrained by rigid textbook-based syllabi that leave little room for cultural adaptation or student-centered innovation (Alrashidi and Phan, 2022, p. 45). Professional development on culturally responsive or sustaining pedagogy is limited, and teachers often lack guidance on integrating local cultural content effectively. As a result, even well-intentioned educators may struggle to implement pedagogical practices that recognize and sustain learners’ identities, reinforcing a cycle of Western-centric instruction.
3.4. Assessment limitations
Assessment practices in current curricula further exacerbate cultural limitations. Standardized tests and traditional evaluation methods tend to prioritize memorization and decontextualized language use rather than critical thinking, creativity, or cultural expression. Students are often evaluated on their ability to reproduce Western-centric content rather than demonstrate English proficiency in ways that connect to their own experiences and knowledge (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014, p. 138). This misalignment between assessment and learners’ cultural realities can undermine the goals of meaningful and equitable English language education.
3.5. Implications of these limitations
The combination of culturally distant materials, neglect of students’ linguistic identities, constrained teacher practices, and misaligned assessment practices indicates a clear need for reform. Current English language curricula in Arab contexts are limited in their capacity to provide culturally sustaining learning experiences. Without deliberate integration of students’ cultural backgrounds and heritage languages, these curricula risk maintaining the dominance of Western pedagogical models and failing to foster learner engagement, identity affirmation, and critical thinking. These limitations highlight the necessity of a conceptual framework for designing culturally sustaining English language curricula, which addresses cultural relevance, identity affirmation, and teacher empowerment. The framework proposed in this paper directly responds to these gaps, offering practical guidance for aligning curriculum content, pedagogical practices, materials, and assessment with culturally sustaining principles.
- Proposed conceptual framework: culturally sustaining English language curriculum
In response to the limitations of current English language curricula in Arab contexts, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for designing culturally sustaining English language curricula. The framework integrates insights from culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), culturally relevant and responsive teaching (Ladson-Billings, 2021; Gay, 2018), and contemporary principles of EFL curriculum design (Richards, 2017; Nation and Macalister, 2020). Its purpose is to provide a practical, theory-informed guide that allows curriculum developers and educators to create English programs that foster both linguistic proficiency and cultural identity affirmation. The framework emphasizes the interconnectedness of curriculum goals, content, pedagogy, materials, assessment, and teacher development, offering a holistic approach to English language education that is both globally informed and locally grounded.
4.1. Curriculum goals that affirm cultural identity
The first component of the framework emphasizes curriculum goals that balance English language proficiency with the preservation and affirmation of cultural identity. Traditional curricula often focus narrowly on standardized language skills, aiming primarily at grammar, vocabulary acquisition, and test performance. However, such approaches neglect learners’ cultural backgrounds and fail to promote identity-affirming learning experiences. In contrast, the proposed framework advocates for curriculum goals that support learners’ communicative competence in English while simultaneously affirming their heritage languages, local knowledge, and lived experiences. By embedding cultural affirmation into learning objectives, educators can shift from imposing Western norms toward cultivating environments in which students see their identities reflected and valued. Such goals foster a sense of belonging, motivate learners to engage critically with English content, and align classroom practices with the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017, p. 3).
4.2. Contextualized and culturally relevant content
A key element of the framework involves selecting and adapting content that is meaningful and culturally relevant to Arab learners. Curriculum materials should reflect learners’ lived experiences, histories, and social realities, rather than relying solely on Western-centric examples. Strategies for achieving this include incorporating local texts, literature, and real-world examples alongside global English materials, connecting topics to students’ communities, traditions, and contemporary issues, and integrating multilingual practices to leverage learners’ existing linguistic repertoires. By providing content that resonates with students’ identities, the curriculum addresses the cultural misalignment identified in Section 3, ensuring that learners can meaningfully engage with English while maintaining a connection to their own heritage (Alsulami, 2023, p. 58; Ahmed and Suleiman, 2024, p. 77). This contextualization empowers students to navigate both local and global cultures, enhancing both linguistic competence and cultural literacy.
4.3. Pedagogical practices that sustain culture
The framework emphasizes pedagogical practices that actively sustain learners’ cultural identities rather than merely acknowledging them. In English classrooms, this can be operationalized through project-based and inquiry-based learning connected to students’ communities, critical discussions of cultural representation in textbooks and media, multimodal activities that allow knowledge expression through oral, written, visual, or digital forms, and translanguaging practices where learners draw on Arabic or other heritage languages to support meaning-making in English. Such strategies enable teachers to bridge global English competencies with local cultural realities, fostering classrooms in which students’ linguistic and cultural repertoires are treated as resources rather than obstacles. By adopting these approaches, educators can address the challenges highlighted in Section 3, particularly the limitations posed by rigid, textbook-driven instruction that often overlooks students’ identities (Alrashidi and Phan, 2022, p. 45).
4.4. Materials Development and Adaptation
Textbooks and learning materials are central to curriculum design, and their adaptation is crucial for achieving cultural sustainability. The framework recommends adapting Western textbooks by adding culturally relevant modules, tasks, and examples that reflect local knowledge and experiences. Additionally, co-developing materials with students ensures that learners’ cultural insights and linguistic practices are represented, fostering engagement and ownership of the learning process. Integrating digital and multimedia resources further provides access to culturally sustaining content, while encouraging teachers to modify materials in real time based on classroom needs ensures flexibility and responsiveness. Through these strategies, materials can simultaneously support high-quality English instruction and cultural affirmation, directly addressing the limitations of imported resources in Arab ELT contexts (Mahboob and Elyas, 2014, p. 135).
4.5. Assessment that recognizes cultural knowledge
Assessment within a culturally sustaining framework moves beyond standardized tests to include tasks that value learners’ cultural knowledge and identity expression. Performance tasks connected to local contexts, reflective writing that integrates students’ cultural perspectives, project-based evaluations encouraging creativity and multilingual expression, and authentic assessments measuring both language proficiency and cultural engagement exemplify this approach. By reconceptualizing assessment, educators can ensure that evaluation aligns with CSP principles and supports learners’ identities rather than undermining them. This alignment addresses the misalignment in assessment practices noted in current Arab ELT curricula, reinforcing the curriculum’s overall goal of creating culturally sustaining learning environments.
4.6. Teacher professional development
The successful implementation of the framework relies on ongoing teacher professional development, which equips educators with the knowledge and skills required to integrate culturally sustaining practices effectively. Key areas include developing cultural competence and critical literacy, training on incorporating local knowledge into English instruction, strategies for adapting materials and assessments, and reflective practice to continually evaluate the cultural relevance of teaching. By empowering teachers in these areas, the framework ensures that curriculum reforms are sustainable, contextually relevant, and practically implementable, directly addressing the pedagogical challenges identified in Section 3. Well-prepared teachers become catalysts for change, fostering classrooms where students’ cultural identities are actively supported while they develop English proficiency.
4.7. Integrative model
The framework operates as a cyclical and interconnected system, where each component informs and reinforces the others. Curriculum goals guide content selection and pedagogical decisions, while content informs teaching practices and materials adaptation. Pedagogy and materials, in turn, shape assessment, and assessment results provide feedback for refining curriculum goals. This integrative model ensures coherence across all aspects of the curriculum, creating a learning environment that is simultaneously linguistically rigorous and culturally sustaining.
Figure 1. Cyclical model of a culturally sustaining English language curriculum
By maintaining this cyclical structure, the framework enables educators to address the complex, interrelated needs of Arab learners in globalized classrooms effectively.
4.8. Contribution of the framework
The proposed conceptual framework contributes to both research and practice in multiple ways. First, it provides a systematic approach for designing English curricula grounded in CSP principles, offering concrete guidance for educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers. Second, it addresses gaps in the Arab ELT literature by providing a conceptual model that explicitly integrates cultural sustainability into English language teaching. Third, it offers practical strategies for aligning global English proficiency goals with the maintenance of learners’ cultural identities, ensuring that students develop language skills without compromising their heritage. Overall, the framework balances the demands of global English education with local cultural sustainability, fostering classrooms in which learners’ identities are respected, affirmed, and developed alongside linguistic competence.
- Implications for Practice and Policy
The proposed framework for designing culturally sustaining English language curricula carries significant implications for educators, curriculum developers, teacher trainers, and policymakers across Arab educational contexts. By integrating culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) principles into curriculum design, this framework addresses the limitations of current English language programs and promotes more equitable, engaging, and culturally affirming learning experiences.
5.1. Implications for curriculum design
The framework suggests that curriculum developers should move beyond imported Western textbooks and standardized syllabi. Materials should be adapted or created to reflect local histories, cultural practices, and students’ linguistic repertoires, while maintaining alignment with international English language learning standards. Incorporating regional literature, contemporary social issues, and community-based examples ensures that learners see their own experiences and identities reflected in the curriculum. This approach can increase learner motivation, foster meaningful engagement, and encourage students to critically interact with both local and global knowledge.
Furthermore, the framework emphasizes integrated curriculum components, where goals, content, pedagogy, and assessment reinforce one another. This holistic alignment ensures that cultural sustainability is not an afterthought but a guiding principle embedded in all aspects of curriculum design. Adopting this approach can contribute to the development of English programs that are both globally competitive and locally relevant.
5.2. Implications for teacher practice
Teachers play a central role in operationalizing the proposed framework. Professional development programs should equip educators with:
- Cultural competence to recognize and value students’ identities, languages, and local knowledge.
- Instructional strategies that enable critical engagement with content, collaborative learning, and the integration of translanguaging practices.
- Material adaptation skills to contextualize textbooks and develop culturally sustaining learning resources.
- Assessment literacy to design tasks that evaluate both linguistic proficiency and cultural understanding.
By strengthening teachers’ ability to implement CSP-informed practices, the framework ensures that learning environments support identity affirmation, multilingual development, and critical thinking. This is particularly relevant in Arab contexts where teachers may face constraints imposed by rigid curricular guidelines and standardized assessment practices.
5.3. Implications for assessment practices
Assessment within a culturally sustaining curriculum must move beyond conventional, decontextualized tests. The framework encourages authentic, performance-based, and culturally relevant assessment practices that allow learners to demonstrate both English proficiency and their engagement with cultural knowledge. Examples include project-based evaluations, reflective writing tasks incorporating students’ experiences, and oral presentations connecting English content to local realities. Aligning assessment with CSP principles ensures that evaluation practices reinforce rather than undermine learners’ identities and cultural heritage.
5.4 Implications for Policy and Educational Leadership
At the policy level, adopting a culturally sustaining approach requires institutional support for curriculum reform, teacher training, and resource development. Policymakers should:
- Recognize the importance of local culture and heritage in English language education,
- Provide funding and guidance for the development of culturally sustaining materials,
- Encourage collaboration between educators, curriculum developers, and community stakeholders to ensure that curricula are contextually relevant, and
- Support ongoing research and evaluation of culturally sustaining practices in Arab classrooms.
By embedding CSP principles into policy and leadership decisions, educational systems can promote more inclusive, equitable, and globally connected English language education.
5.5. Implications for future research
Although this paper is conceptual, it highlights opportunities for empirical research to evaluate the effectiveness of CSP-informed curricula in Arab EFL contexts. Future studies could explore:
- How teachers implement culturally sustaining practices in classrooms,
- Learners’ perceptions of culturally relevant English instruction,
- The impact of CSP-aligned curricula on language proficiency, motivation, and cultural identity, and
- Best practices for integrating local and global content in assessment and materials development.
These research directions can strengthen the evidence base for CSP in Arab English language education and guide future curriculum reforms.
- Conclusion
This paper has proposed a conceptual framework for designing culturally sustaining English language curricula in Arab globalized classrooms. By synthesizing insights from culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), culturally relevant and responsive teaching (Ladson-Billings, 2021; Gay, 2018), and contemporary principles of EFL curriculum design (Richards, 2017; Nation and Macalister, 2020), the framework addresses critical gaps in current Arab English language curricula. Specifically, it responds to the cultural misalignment, limited recognition of students’ linguistic identities, rigid pedagogical practices, and standardized assessment approaches that characterize existing programs.
The framework emphasizes six interrelated components; curriculum goals, contextualized content, pedagogy, materials adaptation, assessment, and teacher professional development, each designed to sustain learners’ cultural and linguistic identities while promoting English language proficiency. By integrating these components in a coherent and systematic way, the framework provides educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers with a practical guide to create more equitable, meaningful, and culturally affirming English language learning experiences.
The contributions of this paper are both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, it extends the literature on CSP by applying its principles specifically to English language education in Arab contexts, where prior research has been limited. Practically, it offers concrete guidance for curriculum design, classroom practices, teacher training, and assessment, bridging the gap between global English education standards and local cultural realities. Finally, the paper highlights opportunities for future research to empirically evaluate the framework’s effectiveness, examine its implementation in diverse classroom settings, and explore its impact on learners’ linguistic, cognitive, and cultural development. By adopting culturally sustaining approaches, Arab educational systems can ensure that English language education not only develops students’ linguistic skills but also affirms and preserves their cultural identities, fostering more engaged, competent, and confident global learners.
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Author biography
Farah Ben Mansour holds a PhD in theoretical and applied linguistics from the Faculty of Letters and Humanities at the University of Sfax, Tunisia. Her primary research areas are second language acquisition (SLA) and language pedagogy. She is an active researcher at the Laboratory “Approaches to Discourse” (LAD) and a member of Tunisia TESOL.
