Perspectives on the Arabic language and literacy: A UAE case study.
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Emirates College for Advanced Education, Education Leadership and Language Division, United Arab Emirates
In response to the growing pressure brought about by globalization and internationalization, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has begun to invest considerable resources into their burgeoning education system at all levels (e.g., K-12; higher education, adult and vocational education, etc.). This intensification and focused investment has resulted in the use of an ambitious bilingual curriculum where Arabic and English are both held in high esteem. Regrettably, such investment has not resulted in successful Arabic literacy levels among much of the Emirati youth. This article reports on a study that examined Emirati parents’ language practices with their children via a 15-item, open-ended survey questionnaire that was completed in Arabic. The questionnaire results revealed that parents predominantly use colloquial Arabic (CA) in the home, but generally engage in very few literacy practices using Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The data from the parents also documents an evolving triglossic (i.e., tri-language) context in which there is greater need for improved Arabic literacy. The article then uses the questionnaire results to initiate a discussion of various ways to promote language and literacy among Emiratis.
First, the authors present the advantages and disadvantages of using local colloquial Arabic for early literacy practices. Second, the authors present a number of suggestions that would promote Arabic without codifying the colloquial variety. Specifically, this includes: 1) The key to promoting MSA is to build on the relationship that it has with its colloquial form while creating contexts where students feel confident that they can succeed, 2) To remedy this situation and the potential threat posed by English, Arabic-medium teachers must work to revolutionize their approach to teaching MSA to make it more appealing to students, in addition to revolutionizing the approach teachers are taking, the government can play an ever-increasing role as they promote MSA, 3) A potential policy change to increase the status of MSA would be to adjust the admission requirements for federal institutions of higher education in the country, 4) Another potential way to raise the importance of MSA is through the hiring process of government employees, and 5) One way to do this would be to promote literacy shortly after a child is born. Similar to the way some hospitals provide diapers to newborn children or new UAE government initiatives provide car seats to promote their use, the government could set up a care-package system where children’s books could be delivered to the newborn’s house.
A particular emphasis is made on the need for a program of triglossia in the UAE that consists of instruction in colloquial Arabic, particularly with children’s literature, modern standard Arabic in higher years, and English. Additionally, the authors suggest that nurturing a culture of reading and literacy would also give young students a head start on learning. For more details, please see Carroll et al. (2017).
References
Carroll K.S., Al Kahwaji B., Litz D. (2017). Triglossia and promoting Arabic literacy in the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Language, Culture and Curriculum 30(3):317-332.
Keywords:
Triglossia,
Language maintenance,
United Arab Emirates,
UAE,
Arabic,
literacy
Conference:
3rd International Conference on Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 11 Mar - 12 Mar, 2018.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Educational Neuroscience
Citation:
Al Kahwaji
BM,
Litz
D and
Carroll
K
(2018). Perspectives on the Arabic language and literacy: A UAE case study..
Conference Abstract:
3rd International Conference on Educational Neuroscience.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.225.00017
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Received:
18 Feb 2018;
Published Online:
14 Dec 2018.
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Correspondence:
Dr. Bashar M Al Kahwaji, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Education Leadership and Language Division, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, d.e.brqi@gmail.com