In many societies, single-sex education is embedded in a culture that maintains women subordination with possible ramifications to their language performance and role in society. This paper seeks to explain the cultural grounds for Palestinian female direct refusals in their L1 culture and the consequences for their linguistic behavior in multicultural educational contexts. For data collection, the study employed a self-reporting survey followed by interviews with 10 Palestinian female study abroad students. Results showed that fear of gossip-mongering, reputation and family, and inter-group anxiety constricted the females' refusals pushing them to terminate the communication at an earlier stage in their home educational context. However, in a western study abroad context, where Palestinian females are untangled from their L1 culture, the students were more responsive to the culturally diverse context. In the present study, the participants conceived their home culture as constraining their refusal performance at home; but they became more self-sovereign and their reactions were more engaging, elaborated and less direct in the foreign educational context.

Title

Multicultural Education Review

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Publisher Country

United Kingdom

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

None

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

12

Year

2019

Pages

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