Job Discussion Forums

[lall]

Do you think whether or not a requirement stating that all English teachers should be able to speak/write basic Arabic would go a long way in mitigating student hardships regarding effective learning of English?

Culturally too, students would feel comfortable, especially the reticent ones.

Salaries could be based on Arabic-speaking/writing ability. This would give teachers some incentive to learn Arabic.

I'm an Indian Roman Catholic male which fact, I hope, puts to rest any notions of hidden religious agenda regarding the above.

Believe me; some of the college students in Oman knew very, very little English. They would go into shock if a sentence of instruction contained more that four to five words.

My point is: It would be nearly impossible for an English speaker to learn Chinese if the Chinese instructor spoke no English at all.

What say, you folks?

[007]

[johnslat]

Dear 007,

"And it took me only 6 months to master the English language!"

Tongue firmly placed in cheek, I see.

After all, some might find fault with this:

"I think it is not necessarily."

But don't feel too bad, 007. I've been working at it for about 65 years, and I still haven't "mastered the English language."
In fact, I doubt that I could were I given several lifetimes.

Regards,
John

[lall]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[johnslat]

Dear NCTBA,
Quibble, quibble, quibble - actually, it was only poor word choice. His use of the present perfect progressive tense was quite correct.
You may now feel free to give me the finger.
Regards,
John

[Cleopatra]

As a teacher with experience working in several countries - including countries where I spoke the local language very well, and others where I spoke little or nothing of my students' language - I have long rebelled against the ESL sacred cow which states that not speaking your students' language is irrelevant, or possibly even beneficial!

Certainly, a knowledge of the local language is not absolutely necessary - I speak very little Arabic, for example, and yet like to think that most of my students are making progress. However, I will never accept that it is not a distinct advantage, particularly when teaching lower levels, for reasons which should be obvious. Even if you don't speak the language to your students, and don't translate for them in class, a knowledge of their mother tongue will help you to understand what aspects of English they are likely to have difficulties with, identify 'false friends', spot mistranslations etc.

There may be a case for keeping your language knowledge secret from the students, but to claim it doesn't help is just ridiculous to me. In my experience, the only competent teachers who insist that there's no benefit from knowing the students' language are either stubborn Anglo monolinguals, or local teachers whoare made over-defensive because of their inferiority complex vis a vis 'expat' teachers.

[lall]

[mishmumkin]

Lall,

I think knowing the students' first language certainly provides insight into common errors, help in teaching writing, etc. That said, even though I know a very basic level of conversational Arabic, I would never use it in class, nor would I translate. It becomes too much of a crutch, as evidenced by all those kids who came out of UAE government schools taught English by native Arabic speakers. I had a conversation w/ a uae university student (via another student who translated) about his English studies. He said his teacher was Egyptian, and most of the class was done in Arabic.

[johnslat]

Dear lall,
You've put your finger right on it - I stand (or rather, sit) corrected.
Regards,
John

[Cleopatra]

[mishmumkin]

[scot47]

Students in the ME like to pass the buck. "I did not learn because I had a bad teacher." "I did not learn because our teacher used Arabic in class."

[007]

[windstar]

I see many factors for learners in general and Arabs in particular not to get it right.
First of all, I do not refer to teachers of English as English teachers to avoid ambiguity. I am a teacher of English but not English or British.
We should consider their age as another factor and the settings they are raised in. Cultural background is, as pointed out, very important as well as English as a Foreign Language instead of English as a Second Language. After school, they are in Arabic speaking environment, so they do not or cannot practice what they have learned in the classroom.
Downplaying the reason only to native vs non-native teachers is not the solution in this case. It is oversimplification of the facts surrounding the problem.