Educating Generations on the Importance of the Arabic Language

Doha: Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Qatar University (QU) and Western Michigan University organized a joint conference titled “The Challenges of Teaching Arabic in the 21st century” – a forum to discuss the obstacles faced when teaching Arabic as a first and second language, and to discuss ways to combat and overcome these challenges. The event was held on Carnegie Mellon’s campus in Education City.

Zeinab Ibrahim, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor of Arabic language at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, was the inspiration behind organizing the conference. Ibrahim is one of the most distinguished specialists in teaching Arabic as a foreign language.

“The Arabic language is a widely-spoken language and now it is one of the most sought-after languages, especially by expatriates who are living in the region. They need to learn more about the language for better communication, social interaction and business opportunities; Arabic is a must-know in this part of the world,” Ibrahim said.

“We live in an Arab country, this is why it is very important to communicate using our mother-tongue language and try to emphasize using it in public places. Arabic should be our main-language of communication and interaction,” she added.

Around 100 university officials, faculty and expert academics in the field attended the two-day conference, which is sponsored by Bridge Linguatec Inc., an organization at the forefront of innovation in the language industry, to discuss the varied challenges faced by teachers of the Arabic language.

“The Arabic language is a language of exceptional personal, social, occupational and strategic importance throughout the world,” stated G. Richard Tucker, Dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar in his welcome remarks. “Depending upon whom you cite, it varies from the 5th to the 7th most commonly spoken language in the world.”

“Though in many cases, our graduates will study or work in environments where English will be the primary language for communication, our decision to begin offering Arabic Language instruction at Carnegie Mellon was a necessary one for us, ensuring that our students have the same degree of Arabic proficiency in literacy skills or advanced presentation skills when making business presentations or writing reports in Arabic,” he said.

Dean Tucker’s welcome was followed by opening remarks delivered by Dr. Saif Al Hajari, Vice Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, who spoke

about the importance of maintaining the mother language in local modern

day Arab communities.

“This conference will have a great impact on shedding light on the Arabic language. The Arabic language is facing formidable challenges in teaching, and the responsibility falls on each of us as educators, parents and members of the society to work together to teach our children about its heritage, importance and evolution,” stated Dr. Al Hajari.

He continued: “Qatar Foundation has a special interest in the Arabic language because of its importance not only in the region but in the world, and by working together we can overcome the challenges and difficulties in teaching Arabic to native as well as non-native speakers.”

By participating in the organization of the conference, Qatar University reinforces its sense of belonging to the Arab identity, and stresses the university’s role as an effective part of the educational and intellectual scene through enriching culture and thought in the Arab world.

QU Associate Professor of Arabic Language Dr. Abdel-qader Abushariefeh, stated: “The panel discussions addressed research related to teaching and learning the Arabic language and culture as part of the global linguistic culture in the Middle East and around the world. At Qatar University, we participated in a number of research projects that focused on the academic levels of non-Arabic speakers. We called on experts to establish standards to govern such levels and identify appropriate levels for each level from a variety of media, cultural and literary sources. These standards are important in the preparation and selection of current and future Arabic curriculum, in order to keep pace with changes in modern education trends.”

Dr. Mustafa Elghafar Mughazy, Ph.D., associate professor and executive director of Arabic linguistics at Western Michigan University agreed. “This is where the future begins. The field of teaching Arabic language has experienced changes. Only through collaboration such as this conference can we build a strong foundation for Arabic language learning for the future.”

The 2-day conference covered two themes: challenges in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers, and challenges in teaching Arabic to native speakers. Mahmoud Al-Batal, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Arabic Flagship Program in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas in Austin, was the keynote speaker on the first day of the conference, and addressed the issues facing teachers when teaching the Arabic language as a first and second language. “There is a sincere desire for this generation of students to learn about the Arabic culture and history, and they choose do this through studying the Arabic language. To be successful educators in the field, we need to think about the objectives and needs of the learners and develop a program accordingly,” he said.

Yassir Sulieman, Ph.D., professor of Modern Arabic Studies and Fellow of King’s College at the University of Cambridge was also a keynote speaker, delivering a speech titled “Arabic in the Fray: between mother-tongue and native-language.”

Carnegie Mellon’s Ibrahim noted: “Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, realizes the risk we are taking in eliminating teaching Arabic in our schools, and by implementing old-fashioned methods of teaching the language. This is why we gathered here today to discuss the possible ways we as teachers can implement and use in the classrooms to help make learning the Arabic language a fun and pleasurable experience for our students.”

“Personally, I think this conference was very important in terms of how it highlighted issues that are facing the teachers who teach the Arabic language. I agree with Dr. Al-Batal that non-native students want to learn how to speak like native speakers – as they do with friends, and at home – as well as learning the formal literary language. It is necessary for me as a non-native Arabic language professor, and foreigner living in the Arabic country it is important to learn its language in order to learn more about the country, communicate better with its people and understand what is happening around me,” said Jeremy Palmer, Ph.D., of the American University in Sharjah.