English as Cultural Capital: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

This qualitative and cross-cultural research study looked into the ways in which English language has come to be seen as associated with symbolic values that can be considered as a form of cultural capital. This research uses Pierre Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction as its theoretical framework. The participants of the study were 25 EFL teachers teaching in the Sultanate of Oman where the study was conducted as we were working as faculty members. Audio-recorded and open-ended interviews constituted the main data collection method. The main and most important finding of this study is that English language is used to reproduce social inequality and this is largely due to the fact that it has been fetishized.