Arabic language, cultural continuity, and national identity in Saudi literature
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Abstract
Arabic literature occupies official, religious, historical, and everyday roles in Saudi Arabia, yet those roles are distributed across Modern Standard Arabic, local varieties, Classical or Qur'anic registers, and multilingual practices that include English. The 2026 National Policy for the Arabic Language makes a population-level baseline especially timely, but existing Saudi research has concentrated largely on policy documents and linguistic landscapes rather than citizens' domain-specific practices and interpretations. This protocol describes a study of how language repertoire, family language socialisation, institutional experience, and bilingual compatibility relate to Arabic identity centrality and broader cultural attachment among Saudi adults. Methods: The study will use a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The quantitative phase targets 1,700 Saudi citizens aged 18 years or older across the Kingdom's 13 administrative regions through a stratified multistage probability design, subject to access to an appropriate sampling frame. An Arabic survey will be developed through expert review, cognitive interviews, and a separate pilot. Planned analyses include survey-weighted estimates, ordinal confirmatory factor analysis, measurement-invariance testing, and preregistered association models with effect sizes and uncertainty intervals. A nested maximum-variation sample of approximately 36-45 survey participants will then complete Arabic semi-structured interviews. The interviews will be examined through critical-realist reflexive thematic analysis, and the two phases will be integrated through connecting, building, joint displays, and meta-inference. Discussion: The protocol avoids treating language and identity as a zero-sum contest or inferring cultural preservation from symbolic endorsement alone. It is designed to distinguish practical multilingualism from language displacement and to provide a transparent baseline for policy, education, family language planning, and future longitudinal research.
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