Job Discussion Forums

[markcmc]

I read an ad for a job in the UAE recently that said "an ability to tolerate a high degree of ambiguity" is necessary. What - in practical terms - does this mean?

It continues with "the ability to make very dry materials come alive." Are any international materials used in the ME, or is everything specially written for the region?

[Neil McBeath]

Far too many places in the Arab Gulf rely on Internationalmaterials and then find that these are culturally inappropriate for any one of a number of reasons. A Syrian Scholar called Ghsoon Reda did a study of "mainstream" courses and found that they tend to recycle about 24 bland "topic areas" - fashion; sport; holidays; entertainment etc. This has been a well-known complaint from teachers/ materials writers in the Gulf for years.

As a result, some places have developed their own courses. Several years ago, the HCT Colleges in the UAE had an in-house course, but I cannot, offhand remember who wrote it. But it was very good.

BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia use entirely in-house produced material, and for the Royal Saudi Air Force cadets, that course works very well.

At the other end of the scale, you have the ten-years-in-development, frequently revised, still half finished and unteachable Target; The Sultan's Armed Forces General English Course in Oman.

[scot47]

"High degree of ambiguity" means that the boss will say "Do XYZ today". You have to understand that as "Do PQR, but pretend to do XYZ and carry the can if they find out."

It also means that there is always a foreigner around to blame when anything goes wrong.

[basiltherat]

[markcmc]

Do you think most teachers in the Middle East experience this? I know that on forums people can sometimes be cynical
Should I just expect & accept this high degree of ambiguity?

[markcmc]

[basiltherat]

The repeated use of these bland topics are, I think, due to religious taboos. Religion plays a key role in most people's lives in the region and to discuss, for example, homosexuality or simply female members of one's family, would result in more than just raised eyebrows.

Textbook pictures of a female athlete, for example, would also need to be either censored or omitted. The list could go on pretty much indefinitely.

In addition to that, on one ocassion I was advised to quickly/briefly cover the use of 'be going to' (future) because it was not something that the class could relate to, seeing as, according to the religiously devout, there is no such thing unless Allah wills it.

my tuppenceworth.

best
basil

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[markcmc]

The bending or snapping thing is true in just about any new place I think. Good to hear positive views about life in the ME.

[Neil McBeath]

Markcmc,

If you are working in ESP (however you interpret that) then clearly their are job-specific, genre-specific areas that get you away from the bland superficiality of the "general English" course.

The problem here is, of course, that some materials writers become so conditioned by "general English" that they are unable to produce anything else.

Example, and a very basic one.

The RSAF Course taught by BAE Systems staff at TSI Dhahran teaches colours by using photos of various Saudi soccer teams. The cadets love it. It captures their imagination, it holds their attention for a bit longer than usual because in many cases they feel some solidarity with particular soccer teams.

By contrast, the RAFO materials writers decided to teach colours using flags. One problem. Most Arab states' flags are combinations of red, white, green and black. So they solved the problem by using flags from the remoter corners of the world - places that the Sultan's Armed Forces personnel might have had difficulty identifying on a map.

But look in commercial textbooks, and which are you more likely to see, Saudi footballers or flags? OK then, go with what is usual.