Job Discussion Forums

[kuberkat]

The idea of bilingual, cosmopolitan students across the Arab World is an intriguing one, but how is this working out in practice? There certainly are some fine examples of Gulf students and graduates who are perfectly fluent in English and the Global Village culture, who are contributing professionally and academically. (Here I slyly mention Dr Ali of Oman's College of Law, a fine schoolar and fearsome critic!)

These shining stars must be recognised. But what about the masses of students who are struggling through courses presented in English of which they cannot make head or tail? Students I have spoken to in Manpower Colleges take their business or science classes "in English" from teachers who actually present most of the course in Arabic. These students only have very basic General English courses which do not provide the learning they need to cope with academic English. How well are students learning, and how much will they benefit Oman's future?

Teaching students their subjects in Arabic. but providing solid, ongoing courses in both General English and Eniglish for Academic/Special Purposes beyond the Foundation Year, seems the best solution.

(MOD edit of name)

[veiledsentiments]

Yes Kuber, that is the conclusion that most of us ended up with after a few years of teaching in the Gulf.

The idea behind the decision was a noble one. Sultan Qaboos knew that there was nowhere near the oil wealth in Oman that there is in other Gulf countries and that an educated bi-lingual populace would be an asset. Many of the students that I taught in 2000 were well aware that jobs will be scarce in Oman and like many of their ancestors they will end up being expatriate workers themselves. In the past Omanis provided manual laborers up and down the Gulf. In the future, many will become expatriate professionals and good language skills for international business are crucial. And they need strong bi-lingual professionals in the larger international businesses in Oman and in the Ministries.

Where this decision runs into problems is that what is really needed is a two track system. Not everyone is going to head to a Ministry, big business in Muscat, or an international firm. Although I can see that they want to give all the students equal opportunity, it isn't realistic. As an example, of all the business majors in Oman... who are now theoretically being taught in English with English texts... How many of them will spend their lives running their business in their village in Arabic? I think the answer is the majority. So why make their studies harder by making them do it in English... or making the teacher have to translate the texts daily for them? (as we have all heard outside the classroom doors all over the Gulf while our management swore that ALL courses were taught completely in English)

It is very much a charade in some cases. But, in all cases, it is the students who are being shortchanged.

VS