Learning Arabic Linked to US National Security

By Adam Wild Aba, IOL Correspondent

WASHINGTON, January 6 (IslamOnline.net) – Drawing a linkage between awareness of the “strategic” language and national security, the Bush administration and senior education officials are intensely collaborating to foster study of the Arabic language in American schools.

The Department of State cited in a report, a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net, an unprecedented demand for studying Arabic in American schools, from kindergarten upwards.

Few years ago, the Middle Eastern languages made up only 2% of all foreign language classes in the United States, but there was an upsurge by 92% in the Arabic enrollments since 2002 from 1998 to 10,600, according to a survey of Modern Language Association.

The Department of Defense recently joined hands with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in preparing an assessment on the link between national security and awareness of foreign languages, especially those spoken by Muslims such as Arabic and Persian, and to outline an action plan.

According to the report, learners of Arabic are government or contractor employees, seeking work in the Middle East, US intelligence agents and ordinary citizens seeking a better understanding of the Arabic and Islamic cultures.

“We must be able to speak the languages of many countries. The only way is to start at K-12. It's the only way to remain competitive and retain our position as the superpower in the world,” said Wilbert Bryant, deputy assistant secretary for higher education in the US Department of Education.

Federally-funded

Ralph Hines, the director of international education programs at the Department of Education, highlighted numerous federally-funded opportunities for students and teachers to learn Arabic in the US and abroad.

Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia are the most recipient countries to students enthusiastic about learning Arabic, he added.

“480 Americans are studying at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, a doubling since 2001; among these, 40 are studying advanced Arabic through the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad -- a federally funded program since 1967,” he said.

To meet the rising demand for learning Arabic, the Department of Education jacked up federal funds for various international education programs to 103.7 million dollars in 2004, with a 33 percent increase since 2001.

Grants for foreign language and area studies rocketed by 65 percent during the same period. Some 455.000 dollars have been earmarked for evaluation and national outreach.

Hines further noted that the Department of Education began in 2002 to fund the National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC) to support the teaching of the Arabic language in the states.

The center taps into the expertise of language professionals in the United States to build the resources and capacity in Middle Eastern languages nationwide.

There are 17 Middle East Studies Centers and nine African Studies Centers at American institutions to offer Arabic language, culture and study abroad and community outreach programs to students and teachers.

Better Outlook

Since the 9/11 attacks, there has been rising demand for a better understanding of the Arabic and Islamic languages and cultures.

In July 2004, the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of California: Santa Barbara (UCSB), sent, for the second year, 28 teachers to Egypt on a 5-week training seminar to promote their awareness of the Middle East studies curriculum at all grade levels.

The teachers met with Egyptian educators, NGO leaders, environmental activists, attended cultural events, according to UCSB's Garay Menicucci.

They heard lectures from experts such as Heba Raouf, from IslamOnline.net, about common stereotypes of Muslims and how to breach cultural differences between people of different religions, said the report.

“My outlook on world events has changed. I will be better able to relate to my Arab students. The trip has taught me much about respect for all cultures. I feel that I am a better teacher, a more tolerant person because of this trip,” Menicucci quoted one teacher who participated in the program as saying.

American teachers are also asking for materials to enable them “to teach Arabic successfully to the American children,” Katherine Keatley of the Modern Language Association said.

“In the US, we like to teach in a more participatory way to build communicative competence,” she added.

At present, students are learning Arabic at approximately 70 elementary and secondary schools across the US, according to a survey by the Washington-based, Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL).

Under a government grant awarded in 2003, work is underway to develop standards for learning Arabic in the US to be published in the spring of 2005, and tested in Dearborn, Michigan, the location of the largest Arab-American community in the US.