Identity articulation among IIUM Arab students: a case study

Abstract

The study attempts to investigate the various levels of ethnic interrelationships related to the phenomenon of identity expression among IIUM Arab students. Based on a sample of fifty Arab students studying at IIUM and coming from different Arab countries, this research finds that Arab students articulate their identity in terms of unification and fragmentation. They define their identity according to the level of ethnic interrelationships they are involved in. At the local level, Arab students have the tendency to define the exact locality they come from, whether a city, a village or a town, as a significant part of introducing themselves to students coming from the same Arab country. At the regional level, IIUM Arab students are inclined to name only the Arab country they come from without providing details concerning the exact locality when they come into opposition with each other. Hence, they are distinctively divided into many regional groups maintaining regional boundaries. Their relationships are not conflictual; rather, there are situations referred to as fragmentation on the basis of localism and regionalism. On the other hand, there are contexts which reveal oscillation in identity definition, showing a high sense of solidarity. At the international level, IIUM Arab students express their Arab identity with a high sense of solidarity in terms of Arabism, particularly when they come into opposition with the non-Arabs.